The latest monitoring visit to the Academy has rated progress as ‘good’. The report, which is now available in full from the Ofsted website, says progress is good both for the whole of the period since the Academy was put into special measures and since the last inspection in March this year.

The inspector singled out for praise the creation of student ambassadors. Their enthusiasm, she suggested, had a made a real difference to the way the Academy is run. She said students were positive about the improvements in teaching, and parents were pleased with the improvements to the way homework was set and marked. She said the majority of students worked hard. For further improvement, she prioritised student attendance.

Jane Gould, Chair of Holbrook Academy Governors, said: “We are very pleased. Again, hard work on everyone’s part is paying off. We are not meeting our targets on student attendance partly because of a small number of persistent absentees. But we are working hard with them and their families in an attempt to resolve their issues. It is important that all parents and carers do all they can to make sure their children get as close as possible to 100% attendance.”