Sunderland school celebrates improvement after being given 'good' rating in Ofsted inspection

Portland Academy, in Wearmouth Road, Chapelgarth, Sunderland, is now officially rated as good, the second highest of four categories, following a new report by inspectors from the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

The school provides education for 11-19-year-old pupils with severe and multiple learning difficulties and under the leadership of headteacher Sharon Common has worked tirelessly to improve standards.

It introduced a series of changes and made improvements in all areas of the Ofsted framework.

Two categories, personal development and behaviour and attitudes, were rated as “outstanding” following the three-day visit towards the end of last year.

Feedback from parents was also highlighted with many reporting that their children are “happy to be at school as they are well cared for and feel safe” and one parent saying “my child has blossomed in the school’s care”.

The inspectors’ report also said: “Pupils are proud of their school. Their behaviour is exemplary. Pupils are enthusiastic about the different activities they do. They enjoy learning.

“They say that staff help them when needed. Staff celebrate when pupils have learned something new.

“Pupils understand the importance of being able to read well.

“They know it helps them undertake daily tasks with confidence.”

The school is one of four run by the Ascent Academies’ Trust to receive a “good” rating following their most recent full inspections.

The others are Barbara Priestman Academy, also in Sunderland, Hope Wood Academy, in Easington Colliery, and Ash Trees Academy, in Billingham.

Ascent Academies’ Trust chief executive Carolyn Morgan said: “This is a great starting point for us to build from and by working together we can get all our schools to be even better.

“Every school is unique, but we collaborate on things we know work well and together find solutions to any problems we have.

“We have fabulous expertise across all our schools with a very supportive board of Trustees and these recent Ofsted ratings put us in a strong position to improve further, providing the best possible learning and social environments for our students.”