We have retained our Ofsted ‘good’ rating following a short inspection in December 2021. A short inspection is a visit carried out within ‘good’ rated schools to ensure standards have been maintained since the last inspection date.

In the report, Ofsted highlighted that, ‘staff and pupils support each other to ‘be the best they can be,’ with the inspector commenting that there was a ‘strong sense of community’ where ‘both pupils and staff are proud to part of this school.’

The academy was praised for providing ‘a good quality of education’, where ‘leaders have a clear vision of how they want to develop the school’, and teachers and support staff were commended for helping children ‘to remember facts and concepts through well-sequenced lessons.’

Parents and carers were found to ‘value the support that their children received’ and ‘praised the school’s response to the global pandemic’, with one parent saying: “The school did a great job over lockdown and were understanding of the difficult situation and supportive to us as a family.”

Dave Cotton, CEO of Diverse Academies Trust said: “We have a wonderful community of children and families in Retford and I am delighted to see our academies go from strength to strength. My thanks go to the staff teams for the amazing work they do day-in, day-out, and particularly for their determination to maintain our high standards during what has been a very challenging time. We know that by working together we can make a difference in our diverse communities and in the lives of those who learn with us and work with us, and it was particularly pleasing to see this acknowledged by Ofsted in their visit. Our staff and children should be very proud of the inspection outcomes.”