Yes, I too thought I had hung up my NDG blogging duties for good, but as seems to be the way, with heavyweight boxers, Formula 1 racing drivers and Phil Collins; there always seems to be something that comes along that lures one out of self-imposed retirement.
Like many others across North Devon, I was horrified earlier this week to hear the latest news emanating from the Route 39 Academy Free School.
But I was not surprised!
Following Route 39’s previous Ofsted report published on 22nd June 2015, which stated that the school ‘required improvement’, (See Route 39 Ofsted Report – You can put lipstick on a pig…) the Principal quickly departed (See Route 39 – When the going gets tough..), the Chair and Board of Governors set about blaming everyone but themselves for the issues afflicting the school and a newly arrived Deputy was hastily promoted and announced as the ‘Saviour’ of Route 39 – everything was going to be rosy in the garden again!
Or so they would have you believe.
Two years along ‘the journey of discovery’, on 21st June 2017, Ofsted called again and this time they meant business – after all, Route 39 had received £ millions (some say £15 million in total) in tax payer funded hand-outs, their planning permission, twice rejected by both local and national planning agencies was ‘called in’ and the rejections then overturned by the Secretary of State at the time, Greg Clarke MP and underpinning everything of course, according to the School and their small, but vocal cohort of disciples, was the fact that they all knew what an ‘Outstanding‘ education looked like!
What could possibly go wrong?
Ofsted – that’s what!
The inspectors arrived and inspected – that’s their job. The inspectors then reported – that’s their job too. Unfortunately, their report did not make pleasant reading.
For those unaware of what Ofsted had observed, you can read the full, unadulterated, unspun, factual report here: Route 39 Academy – School Inspection Report , but for those who just like the bullet points, here is what the Ofsted inspectors found:
Overall effectiveness – Inadequate
Effectiveness of leadership and management – Inadequate
Quality of teaching, learning and assessment – Inadequate
Personal development, behaviour and welfare – Inadequate
Outcomes for pupils – Inadequate
Is it only me or can anyone else see a pattern developing here?
So what does this translate into?
Performance of the Chair, Governors and Principal? – Inadequate
New age ‘Stage, not age’ education philosophy – Inadequate
Getting the kids to actually show up for lessons – Inadequate
Results 10% above the national average (bet they rue the day they stated this in their glossy brochures – is it still on the website?) – Inadequate
As regards the last point above, am I the only one struggling to understand how Route 39 intend to achieve GCSE results 10% above the national average when they (some say illegally) decided not to enter any of their Year 11 pupils into their exams? I was looking forward to seeing how the ‘Stage, not age’ ethos translated into real world educational outcomes but I am sadly disappointed. Do they intend to keep delaying exam entry until the kids are say, 20 years old, in order to ensure that by then they should be able to string together a coherent sentence or do their equations accurately, I ask myself? Perhaps they just didn’t think anyone would notice!
Now I just want to say at this point that none of the above is the children’s fault – they are not responsible for this unseemly mess, neither are they to be judged or criticised in any way – the fault here lies firmly and squarely with those individuals that ignored professional educational advice and guidance, that criticised and denigrated other local secondary schools, that arrogantly thought that they had all the answers and knew better and who dismissively treated the local community like they were stupid – in other words, the Chair and Board of Governors and also those parents and teachers gullible or naive enough to believe every ‘land of milk and honey’ statement that these people so blithely trotted out.
And they haven’t stopped, even now!
The School is again crying foul, blaming the Ofsted inspectors for being too harsh, for not ‘understanding their ethos’, for not following the rules that only suited Route 39. Really? They state “We strongly refute the judgement and the manner in which the inspection was handled. There was a disproportionate focus on our decision to enter thirteen Year 11 students for GCSEs in 2018, and a lack of adherence to Ofsted’s own Inspection Handbook. As a result, we have challenged Ofsted and have issued a complaint.”
And their statement regarding South Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust is rather interesting if not, some might say; disingenuous. Whatever spin is put on this relationship, this ‘take-over’ of Route 39 by South Dartmoor MAT is not borne out of desire – the Government insist that any school that receives an ‘Inadequate’ Ofsted and is then automatically placed in ‘special measures’ must be taken over by a MAT – and if you cannot quickly identify one prepared to take you on, the Department for Education will foist one upon you! So do not think for even one brief moment that this is a happy, cosy relationship – if South Dartmoor MAT had in fact seen and believed everything that they wrote in their statement, why did Route 39 get put in special measures by Ofsted in the first place? Again, the land of milk and honey – something worth thinking about.
Route 39 say that they have already rectified many of the things that were found to be wrong, but they also said that last time too! Hmmmm…..
Above all else, this failure to recognise their own abject failure is frankly staggering!
Like ostriches in the desert, the Route 39 establishment, and from what we see on social media; many of their posse continue to stick their heads firmly in the sand. They evidently refuse to acknowledge their own shortcomings and continue, just like before, to blame everyone else but themselves. So I am left to ponder why the Chair and the Principal remain in their posts (it must surely only be a matter of time?) and why the Department for Education continue to pour tax-payers hard earned cash into this disastrous project?
Last time around I observed that following Route 39’s ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted report, the free school was a complete and utter catastrophe, and I was roundly castigated by Route 39’s Board of Governors (in fact they made an official complaint about me!) for expressing that opinion. Well, I am the bigger person and I will always admit when I am wrong.
I was wrong then – there, I said it!
To my mind this latest report now shows plainly, simply and factually that Route 39 is a complete, utter and total CATASTROPHE!
Until next time…
northdevongovernor 
Welcome back Gov. Only said to my wife ‘ what on earth would NDG have said about this shambles” and here you are.
Regards,
Graham.
Sent from my iPad
Thanks Graham, how can one not make a comment on this situation – it’s what was predicted, but they wouldn’t listen and still wont!
I hope you’re sending a copy of your NDG piece to Justine Greening. She obviously hasn’t got a clue what’s going on.
I’m sure someone will…but if past history of Education Ministers is anything to go by, she’ll neither read it, nor care!
Done it! Jo
What do you actully want ? You know that no one who supports Route 39 will pay any attention to what you write, they are all far too battle hardened to stop for even a minute and worry and nothing you say now is news to anyone else either. Parents and supporters of Route 39 will just strengthen their resolve, they have had a lot of practice, if anything you are helping to pull the school together in the face of adversity. So what do you actually want to achieve ? There is nothing contructive in your critcism, there is no desire to make things better. With all your experience one would think you would be one of the very best people to provide intelligent and meaningful ways forward and yet you publish nothing but spite and vitriol, why are you still so embittered and angry ? The root of this problem lies in the government policy, why aren’t you harrassing them ? All you are doing is causing upset and distress to a group of children who really don’t deserve it. The students are very proud of their school and their teachers, it means a great deal to them and they now have to face this kind of abusive behaviour from the adults they might have hoped would be their role models. Students of Route 39 are now on the receiving end of taunts and bullying from students of other schools because of what is being published on the internet, when I am faced with one of those students in tears who can’t understand why she is on the receiving end of such abuse what do you suggest I tell her about you and why you are doing this because for the life of me I can’t think of a good answer.
Mr Wedgwood, I was expecting you to comment having noticed your ardent defence of the indefensible on several news media websites.
If you care to read through other NDG blog posts you will see plenty of criticism from me aimed at all levels of Government, consistently over the past 5 years.
Personally, I think you should be taking your issues up with Route 39 rather than challanging me, after all it is they who have been judged ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted and therefore they who are failing the children that you, and indeed I, care about.
You will see in my post that I specifically stated that the children are not at fault here – they are indeed the victims in this whole sorry situation and therefore your suggestion that I am abusing these students is offensive and I request that you retract this statement.
All children deserve a good education and those at Route 39 deserve a better education than is quite obviously currently being provided to them (according to Ofsted). We hoped they would up their game last time around when they were told the school required improvement and I truly hoped they would – instead they appear to have gone backwards and this cannot go unaddressed.
Whether you are a teacher, a parent or simply a concerned individual, your anger should perhaps be turned towards those directly responsible for providing a poor standard of education to those children and telling them (again) that they have to do better or let someone else do it instead! This is what the Ofsted report is actually there to say! It’s called accountability!
Thats fine, as I now know who your really are I realise that you are a spent force, resentful and bitter understandably and with no real influence over anything or anyone of any consequence, there is no need for further debate with you, nothing you have to say is relevant.
It has never been a secret who I am or who I represented. If you are a parent of a Route 39 pupil, I sincerely hope that he or she does as well as they are able.
Spoken with a couple of parents, they are in turmoil after this dreadful news.
from their child’s school.
You choose your childs school in good faith, with an expectation that they will be safe and that they will receive the best education possible. Sometimes things go wrong and need to be sorted out – this is one such situation. They could start by changing the leadership, because these people appear to be in complete denial that anything is actually awry in this school.
‘John Wedgwood ‘seems to be spraying this kind of abuse around all over the place – concerning to think he might might be a teacher @ R39
More likely a parent I would think, but it’s OK, heard it all before 🙂