Praise for late head teacher after Allenton Community Primary School graded ‘good’ for second consecutive time

The work of a late head teacher to improve his school has been praised by his successor after Ofsted inspectors confirmed its second consecutive “good” Ofsted report in six years. The inspectors said that Allenton Community Primary School is an inclusive, safe and ambitious school with kindness and happiness at its heart”.

The school was plunged into mourning in December 2021 when then-head Jon Fordham died unexpectedly after a sudden illness on the eve of his 42nd birthday. He had been head teacher since 2014 and was responsible for turning it around from being in special measures to being rated “good” by Ofsted within three years.

Current head teacher Jacqui Trowsdale said: “Our late head teacher would be very proud of what we have all achieved and credit must go to him for his determination to make Allenton the school that it is today. His legacy lives on through his ambition to better all children’s lives and through the wonderful superhero characters he created for us – Resilience, Reflectiveness, Resourcefulness and Reciprocity – which we all love.

“I am delighted that our incredible staff have been recognised for their dedication, hard work and commitment in bringing about such high standards and the fact that our children feel safe and love to learn.

“We have worked really hard to create an ambitious and creative curriculum that inspires all of our children and boosts their aspirations. They deserve the very best education, and we will continue to do our very best to ensure we’re providing a stimulating and nurturing learning environment inside and outside of the classroom for all of our pupils.”

The school is part of the Transform Trust, which it joined in 2015, and Ofsted inspectors praised the school and trust leaders for their focus on “inclusion” and “ambition” for all pupils. Its “well-designed curriculum for all subjects”, “well-sequenced lessons” and inclusive extracurricular activities were also highly commended.

Kindness, one of Transform Trust’s values, was highlighted throughout the report, most fittingly explained by a staff member who stated: “At this school, we have friends as well as colleagues.” Leaders were praised for their open-door policy.

Throughout the inspection, the school’s focus on reading and phonics was noted and inspectors saw how this has created a love of reading from early years through to year six.

Ms Trowsdale added: “As a proud community school, we are always seeking ways to collaborate with local companies and organisations for the greater good of Allenton. Rolls Royce has been incredibly generous with their support and are coming to do a makeover on our front garden, while local IT solutions provider, Infuse Technology, has provided a smart new Allenton Girls’ football kit for our fabulous year six girls’ team.

“We love to fundraise and this term we’ve raised enough money with our ‘dressing up like a pop star’ day for every child to attend a music workshop this term. Continuing our music theme, we will also be performing at Derby Cathedral as part of their outreach programme, which our children are very excited about.”

Rebecca Meredith, Transform Trust chief executive, said that she was pleased the team at Allenton “had been given the recognition they deserve”. She added: “It could have been a much tougher time with the impact of Jon’s sudden passing, but this is where good leadership and teamwork really shine.

“The school has continued to improve, and we are delighted that Ofsted has recognised the immense effort and improvement to date. This is a great school and I know Jon would be really proud of the way the staff and children demonstrated all of their achievements.”

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