‘Inadequate’ Northampton school is being transferred to new academy trust after damning Ofsted reports

A multi-academy trust has made the “regretful” decision to transfer its Northampton school to another provider, following scathing Ofsted reports.

The Spires Academy, in Sheep Street, provides education and placements for children aged five to 11 years old who exhibit social, emotional and behavioural concerns. The Catch22 Multi Academy Trust (MAT) - which manages the Northampton-based school along with others across the UK - has been asked by the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) to re-broker three of their Academies over the last year due to “challenging” Ofsted ratings. A re-brokerage is when one academy trust is asked to transfer some or all of its academies to another trust - typically as a result of performance concerns.

Interim education CEO at Catch22 Daniel Jansen said the RSC made it clear they would look to re-broker any other schools if they became ‘inadequate’ and asked the trust to consider their future strategy given the reduced number of schools spread across a wide geographical area. Mr Jansen said: “In our view, a smaller and stretched MAT will be unable to provide the excellence that we strive for so we regretfully informed the RSC that we would like to re-broker all of our MAT schools to ensure they have the best opportunity to deliver high quality services moving forward. “

The Spires Academy - currently rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted - is one of eight academies run by the Catch 22 MAT that is set to be re-brokered.

A damning report from the academy’s last full inspection in October 2021 found that the school did not ensure pupils’ safety and leaders did not support staff well enough to manage pupils’ offensive behaviour, which often lead to physical injuries and racial abuse towards staff. Inspectors found that teachers were not supported to deliver the curriculum consistently, leading to gaps in knowledge and pupils struggling to read not getting needed support.

A recent monitoring report found that leaders had taken “effective action” to improve serious weaknesses but much work still needed to be done.

There is no definite time scale as to when the re-brokerage will happen but Catch22 MAT wants this to be completed by April 2023. Mr Jansen said that, leading up to this, the trust will continue to address all areas for improvement raised by Ofsted so students and staff are in the best place possible before being transferred to a new provider. All staff working at the Spires Academy will remain in post and transfer to the new provider.

Mr Jansen continued: “The last few years have been a particularly challenging time to deliver alternative provision and specialist education, not least because of the impact of the pandemic and the wider funding environment. We’re incredibly proud of all our staff who work so hard to provide good quality education to our pupils, in what are undoubtedly difficult circumstances. “

Other Catch 22 MAT schools set to be re-brokered include The Ashwood Academy, The Austen Academy and The Coppice Spring Academy - all in Basingstoke - The Brunel Academy in Paignton, The Burton Academy in Devon and The Fen Rivers Academy in King’s Lynn. The Everitt Academy in Carlton Colville has been re-brokered.