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Improved school celebrates new 'good' rating

BBC Students of different ages in uniform with blazers and ties looking at the camera.BBC
Gloucester Academy opened in 2010 and had a rocky first decade

A school in Gloucester has received a "good" rating after years of work trying to turn its fortunes around.

The Greenshaw Learning Trust took over Gloucester Academy in 2020 which was in special measures after being rated "inadequate" in 2018.

The school, in Painswick Road, has tried a number of new approaches to incentivise children to behave well and study.

Pupils can get points and tokens for contributing to lessons and for high attendance rates which they can then exchange for prizes.

"Honestly I'm all about the points," said Glenn, aged 12.

"I like getting badges, gold, silver [for doing things like] being polite to the teacher or participating in lessons."

Image of the front of Gloucester Academy. It has a paved area at the front and the building has large glass windows surrounded by red walls.
The school got a "good" Ofsted rating in November 2024

Since the Covid pandemic attendance has been lower nationally.

But Gloucester Academy is encouraging more children to go to lessons by giving them a token each week for 100% attendance.

Those tokens can then be exchanged for small prizes such as pens and games, or larger ones like book bags and water bottles.

Juveriya Hussen, 17, said the school was a vastly different place from when she left in 2024 to when she arrived in 2019.

"It was very chaotic actually, there were times where there were lots of disturbances in my lessons," Miss Hussen said.

"At the time people weren't equipped enough, but when Greenshaw joined we always had equipment and a good uniform."

Photograph of Phillipa Lewis in a smart suit sitting behind a desk with two computers on her desk.
Headteacher Phillipa Lewis said the school's aim was to bring everyone on the same journey

Headteacher Phillipa Lewis likened studying at school to everyone "being on a mountain" and making sure everyone is "climbing together".

According to the latest publicly available statistics the suspension rate was 15% in the autumn term of 2023/24.

"We take it really seriously if someone's left behind and left behind means I've suspended them - so it's a big decision," Mrs Lewis said.

The Greenshaw Learning Trust's policy around suspensions outlines it is only used in the most serious circumstances.

"I can't allow one child who's causing a problem to then take the whole lot down, sliding down the mountain."

But despite the high rate, Mrs Lewis said that it had reduced and suspensions were used as sparsely as possible.

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