Ryde Academy Explained

Ryde Academy
Motto:Find your remarkable
Established:2011
Address:Pell Lane
Country:England
Postcode:PO33 3LN
Ofsted:yes
Urn:136753
Gender:Male/Female
Lower Age:11
Upper Age:18
Website:http://www.rydeacademy.org

Ryde Academy is an academy status secondary school, including sixth form, located in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, England.

History

Education on the school site began with Ryde High School which was a 13–18 school built and opened in 1964 to accommodate the expanding population of Ryde, the largest town on the Isle of Wight. The school was successful in achieving a Specialist Languages Status and a Media and Arts Specialism. In 2008 the Isle of Wight education authority decided to abolish the tripartite education system (of First schools, Middle Schools and High Schools) and instead adopt the two stage, Primary School and Secondary school model used by the majority of authorities in England.[1] According to the new two stage model Ryde High School would be extended from the 712 pupils of 13–18 age range,[2] and it would become an Academy for 1200 pupils aged 11–18.

Academy chains were invited to bid for the contract to run the new Ryde Academy 11–18 school. The contract was won by Academies Enterprise Trust which took over Ryde Academy (and also two other schools on the Isle of Wight: Sandown Bay Academy and Weston Academy) in 2012.

In 2014, Ryde Academy was successful in acquiring the site of a local primary school which was closing, and this became the new Haylands Sixth Form Centre.[3]

The last headteacher of Ryde High School was Linda McGowan.[4] The first Principal of Ryde Academy was Rob Hoddle[5] who resigned in 2013. He was replaced by the Vice Principal, Debbie Price, who became acting Principal in Nov 2013 until a new principal could be appointed. Dr Rory Fox was appointed as Executive Principal to provide external support to Mrs Price.[6] Eric Jackson took over leadership of the Academy in January 2015,[7] and Joy Ballard was appointed as Principal for September 2015.[8]

In 2024, Joy Ballard took a step back from the school. A spokesperson for Academy Enterprise Trust said: "Mrs Ballard has been away from work for personal reasons." AET has not commented if she will return to the school, leaving Vice Principal Will Doyle to lead the school with assistance from AET.[9]

Academic achievements

In 2007, Ryde High School was commended by the Department for Education (called DfES at the time) for its achievements with disadvantaged pupils.[10] In 2010, before Ryde High School became Ryde Academy, it was judged by OFSTED to be providing a "Satisfactory" quality of education.[11] In its first inspection as an Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) school, OFSTED judged that standards were "inadequate".

GCSE results since 2004 have improved as follows:

Date 5GCSE (including Eng & Mat) Progress 8 results
2004 32%[12] n/a
2007 39%[13] n/a
2010 41%[14] n/a
2013 51% n/a[15]
2016 54% -0.41[16]

In the summer of 2014, Ryde Academy reported its biggest ever improvement in results, with a 200% improvement in the proportion of pupils gaining A/A* grades[17] In the Summer of 2015, when AET asked Eric Jackson (from AET's "troubled"[18] Sandown Bay Academy) to lead Ryde Academy, the GCSE results plummeted to 36% (compared to Carisbrooke College 53% and Priory School 54%).[19]

A level results have gone from 3% of pupils gaining A/A* results in 2010, to 50% of pupils gaining A/A* in 2016.[20]

In terms of its OFSTED grades, the academy has improved steadily from "inadequate" in 2013 to "requires improvement" in 2014,[21] to "good" in Nov 2016.[22] The leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Jonathan Bacon, said: "This is great news...I have no doubt that the school will continue to build upon this achievement..."[23] Principal, Joy Ballard, said: "I'm fed up reading about what a bad deal the island's education system seems to be giving to its kids."[24]

Extra curricular and community achievements

the academy competes each year and in 2013 won the Southern Premier competition. In 2015 Ryde Academy came second in the national finals.

Controversies

In 2014, there was a crackdown on school uniform which led to an estimated 250 to 300 pupils being removed from lessons and sent home or placed in isolation, due to uniform infringements[30] which included issues with skirt length,[31] shoes and socks,[32] and trousers.[33] Some pupils were sent home, and some were placed in isolation. The incident received widespread coverage from BBC South Today, The Times, The Telegraph and the Loose Women television show.[34] As a result of the Academy's actions, some parents removed their children from the school and Academies Enterprise Trust said that they fully supported Ryde Academy.[35]

In the same year, a controversy erupted when teaching unions at Ryde academy were challenged for defending poorly performing teachers who were accused of letting down the education of the children within the academy.[36] Matters came to a head in February 2015 when under-performing union members were due to be dismissed, but Ian Comfort, the CEO of Academies Enterprise Trust intervened to prevent that from taking place.

In January 2015, OFSTED criticized the Academies Enterprise Trust for failing to provide enough support to Ryde Academy in order to help the academy to improve standards at a faster rate.[37] When academic standards at neighbouring Sandown Bay Academy collapsed and Academies Enterprise Trust were unable to improve the school, they announced in 2017 a plan to close Sandown Bay Academy and the transfer of all the pupils to Ryde Academy.[38] The principal and governors of Ryde announced that they had not even been consulted about the plan and that they had discovered it from AET's press statements.[39] There were widespread protests across the Isle of Wight about the poor performance of AET and the way that AET were behaving with the Island's schools, leading to a demand that AET should be removed from managing all schools on the Isle of Wight, including Ryde Academy.[40]

Notable former pupils and staff

References

50.7225°N -1.1751°W

Notes and References

  1. See Education on the Isle of Wight
  2. Web site: Schools Net information for parents. Schools Net. 16 June 2017.
  3. News: Scotcher. Emily. New sixth form centre opens at Ryde Academy. 17 June 2017. Yoppul. 21 February 2014.
  4. News: Makin. Jenny. Secrecy surrounds suspension of headteacher. 16 June 2017. Southern Daily Echo. 15 March 2007.
  5. News: Rob set to lead new academy. 16 June 2017. Isle of Wight County Press. 22 May 2011.
  6. News: School principal resigns. 16 June 2017. Isle of Wight County Press. 13 November 2013.
  7. News: Barnett. Mike. Rory Fox goes. Another Island head to oversee Ryde Academy. 17 June 2017. On the Wight. 4 February 2015.
  8. News: Educating Cardiff head Joy Ballard takes over at Ryde Academy. 16 June 2017. BBC. 3 September 2015.
  9. Web site: 2024-07-25 . Headteacher Joy Ballard takes 'step back' from Ryde Academy . 2024-07-29 . Isle of Wight County Press . en.
  10. http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/software/hpssschoolssep2008.xls?version=1 List of High Performing Specialist Schools
  11. See 2010 OFSTED inspection Report: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/files/2264809/urn/136753
  12. Web site: Schools Net. 16 June 2017.
  13. Web site: Schools Net. 16 June 2017.
  14. Web site: Schools Net. 16 June 2017.
  15. Web site: GCSE results issued for the Isle of Wight. Isle of Wight Council. 2012-09-05. See also Web site: Isle of Wight A-level results released. Isle of Wight County Press. 2012-09-05.
  16. Web site: Compare School Performance. DfE. 17 June 2017. The data on the school website is more optimistic. Web site: GCSE Results 2016. Ryde Academy. 16 June 2017.
  17. News: Nelson. Nat. Strong improvements in GCSE results at Ryde Academy. 17 June 2017. On the Wight. 21 August 2014.
  18. Web site: Troubled Sandown Bay Academy school set for merger. BBC. 17 June 2017.
  19. Web site: Isle of Wight GCSE results: Breakdown of results (update 6). OnTheWight.com. 5 November 2016.
  20. Web site: A Level Results. Ryde Academy. 16 June 2017.
  21. Web site: OFSTED Ryde Academy. OFSTED. 16 June 2017.
  22. Web site: OFSTED Ryde Academy. OFSTED. 16 June 2017.
  23. News: Education on the Isle of Wight has 'turned a corner' says Leader. 16 June 2017. On the Wight. 19 December 2016.
  24. Web site: Educating Cardiff head Joy Ballard takes over at Ryde Academy. 3 September 2015. 5 November 2016.
  25. Web site: Ryde High School. 3 April 2011.
  26. Web site: Ryde Academy . National Citizen Service. 17 June 2017.
  27. Web site: Ryde High School. Bangladesh Trip.
  28. News: Maligned head did much to turn Ryde around. 17 June 2017. Isle of Wight County Press. 8 January 2010.
  29. See 2014 Governing Body Annual Budget report
  30. News: Barbieri. Annalisa. Ryde Academy: skirts too short? Or headmaster too powerful?. 17 June 2017. The Week. 26 June 2014. See also: News: Pupils isolated following uniform crackdown. 27 June 2014. Island Echo. 17 June 2014.
  31. News: Baxter. Holly. School uniform policies are bad for all students – but especially girls. 27 June 2014. The Guardian. 19 June 2014.
  32. News: Barbieri. Annalisa. Ryde Academy: skirts too short? Or headmaster too powerful?. 17 June 2017. The Week. 26 June 2014.
  33. News: Parents protest against uniform crackdown. 27 June 2014. Island Echo. 20 June 2014.
  34. News: Isolation continues for academy students. 27 June 2014. Island Echo. 19 June 2014.
  35. News: Parents remove children from 'prison' school. Island Echo. 18 June 2014.
  36. News: Teachers 'lazy and aggressive' says Ryde Academy head. 17 June 2017. Isle of Wight County Press. 3 November 2014.
  37. Web site: Ryde Academy. OFSTED. 17 June 2017.
  38. See Sandown Bay Academy
  39. News: Taylor. Haydn. Governors' shock over academies merger plan. 17 June 2017. Isle of Wight County Press. 9 June 2017.
  40. News: "Hand back schools," say Isle of Wight parents. 16 June 2017. ITV News. 14 June 2017.
  41. News: Viner . Brian . Kelly Sotherton: Late starter shifts her sights from chip shops to championships . 21 June 2021 . The Independent . 29 April 2013.