Watch Sunderland headteacher describe his pride as school goes from inadequate Ofsted rating and highest exclusion rate in England to top three in Sunderland for academic performance

Red House Academy has seen a massive reduction in the number of pupils excluded and was one of only three secondary schools in Sunderland to achieve a positive progress score, alongside St Aidan’s Catholic Academy and St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College.

In 2018, when the school was judged inadequate, Ofsted highlighted “too many pupils misbehaving and being removed from lessons”.

During the same year, in a bid to turn the school around, a clampdown on behaviour resulted in 254 pupils excluded at least once, around 50 per cent of the school population, giving the school the highest fixed-term exclusion rate in England.

The situation raised criticism from Labour councillor Phil Tye who also called for greater transparency from schools with “unacceptable” exclusion rates.

The school has seen a massive reduction in its exclusion rate, with its most recent good Ofsted report highlighting “the vast majority of pupils behave well and this is because the staff and pupils are respectful of one another”.

Northern Education Trust, who govern the school, defended the stringent measures taken and cited the school’s improved performance as justification.

A spokesperson said: "The implementation of one consistent model of school improvement has resulted in dramatic changes.

“Behaviour has improved beyond recognition and Red House Academy has blossomed. Over the last five years, the numbers of suspensions and exclusions has plummeted to under nine per cent of students having at least one suspension this academic year, which was around 50 per cent previously."

The school received a Progress 8 score of +0.08 which is above the Local Authority average of -0.44 and a massive leap from the 2018 score of -0.85.

It means pupils at the school made more progress than children nationally of similar ability.

The school’s performance in the key subjects of Maths and English has also rocketed from 23 percent achieving a grade 5 (old strong grade C) or above in 2018, to 56 per cent in 2022 – again, comfortably above both the Local Authority and national average of 42 and 50 per cent respectively.

Mr Zaheer, who became principal in October 2019, said: “We’re delighted and very proud of the results and it shows families the progress we’re making on our journey of school improvement. It’s important to celebrate the hard-work and commitment of students and staff and is part of the process of transforming both the school and the lives of young people in the community.”

A key factor for Mr Zaheer on the journey of improvement has been the support of the Trust and pupils’ parents.

He said: “Parental support is crucial for any successful school and we’re fortunate to have a community which is engaged in how their children are performing in school and are willing to work with us. Hopefully the success of our recent Ofsted inspection and these progress scores mean they will continue to trust in what we are doing for their children.

"If we had remained a stand-alone school we wouldn’t have had access to the expertise, financial support and opportunities we’ve had over the last four years.

"The Trust has implemented its model for improvement which has a proven record of improving the culture and learning environment of a school. It’s a model which has been designed by experienced school leaders with a proven history of enhancing outcomes for students and schools.”

The last four years has also seen focused training for staff to ensure “high quality teaching and learning”, the redesigning of subject curriculums and a culture of “high expectations” of all pupils.

Mr Zaheer hopes the school’s upward trajectory has also led to a shift in how the school is viewed.

He said: “In recent years, the current Year 7 cohort is the first full intake we have had. Hopefully it’s a sign of how people’s perception of the school has changed and we are viewed as a place which really cares for young people and allows them to achieve."

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The changes witnessed at the school have certainly won the approval of perhaps the most important judges – the pupils.

Emma, 14, who joined the school the year it was judged inadequate, said: “It has been a big progression from when I started. I’m really proud to be a student here and our Progress 8 score highlights a pathway for what we can go on to achieve.

"I remember in primary school that I was considering going elsewhere, but I’m really pleased I came to Red House.”

Keaton, 15, added: “I remember meeting the Ofsted inspectors and I told them that the school’s reputation doesn’t really reflect what it is really like. I like the learning strategies at the school and the teachers are really supportive.”

What is Progress 8 and how is it calculated?

Progress 8 is a positive or negative value which is used to assess the progress made by pupils during their time in secondary school. It compares pupils who got the same results when they sat their Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) in Year 6 and the results they then achieved in their GCSEs in Year 11.

It was introduced in 2016 as a fairer way to assess a school’s academic performance, measuring how much progress pupils make rather than looking at raw grades.

A score above zero represents that pupils made more progress, on average, than their peers while a score below means, on average, they made less.

A Progress 8 score of +1 means that pupils on average got one grade more in their subjects while -1 means they got one grade less.