Chaucer School: Ofsted says better days ahead for Sheffield secondary two years on from 'inadequate' report

A Sheffield secondary school that was sent reeling by an sudden ‘inadequate’ report two years ago is on the threshold of a comeback.

The community of Chaucer School, in Wordsworth Avenue, was rocked in September 2022 when it was handed a rock-bottom grade by Ofsted.

The highly critical report stung all the more because, in the watchdog’s previous visit in March 2020, the leadership was told they were “taking effective action” to pull them up to a ‘good’ score.

Instead, inspectors scolded pupils’ behaviour, said students faced “considerable disruption on a daily basis” and found “fighting and boisterous behaviour [was] commonplace”.

Now, after two years’ work, Chaucer has received their most encouraging visit yet. A ‘dropping-in’ monitoring inspection report published on May 14 says that while it remains in special measures, behaviour is now “calmer,” attendance is “improving” and pupils have “pride in the school.”

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Inspectors wrote: “The school’s values of respect, responsibility and kindness are becoming embedded with staff and pupils... The school’s relentless focus on improving pupils’ attendance is beginning to pay off.

“Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are improving too. The introduction of the ‘Chaucer Way’ has set behavioural expectations for pupils and staff. Pupils’ movement around the school is calmer. They interact with each other and staff more respectfully.”

It’s a far cry from the chaotic picture painted by inspectors in 2022.

However, the report is not without criticisms. High rates of truancy remains an issue and lesson quality was called “variable,” although the school’s teachers were complemented for their development.

“Interactions between staff and pupils are meaningful in lessons. Since the last monitoring inspection, staff are spending less time managing pupils’ poor behaviour and more time delivering subject content.”

Headteacher Joanna Crewe said the school will likely receive a full graded inspection within a year and praised pupils for embracing “The Chaucer Way”.

She said: “We're really proud of Ofsted’s letter from the most recent monitoring visit. Each visit since inspection in June 2022 has been a positive one, and inspectors were very impressed during this visit with the amount of improvement they saw across all aspects of school.

“Students and staff are proud of the improvements we have made, of the positive experiences that children have at Chaucer School, and how wonderful our young people are.”

Chaucer School is part of Tapton School Academy Trust. It was ‘ranked’ by the Department for Education as the second-worst performing non-special school in Sheffield in last year’s GCSE results in 2022-23, with a 'well below average' Progress 8 score of -1.08.