MCA praised for their ‘tremendous achievement’ in the midst of a turbulent 2 years
After retaining its ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted earlier this year, Mossbourne Community Academy (MCA) has received personal correspondence from Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI), Amanda Spielman, congratulating them on their achievement.
MCA was credited as outstanding once again at the same time as news reports emerged that nearly half of all schools who held this top rating were downgraded this term. This comes after Spielman told Schools Week that halving the number of ‘outstanding’ schools to one in 10 is a ‘more realistic starting point for the system’, raising the bar and making MCA’s retention of top marks all the more impressive.
In the letter, HMCI acknowledged the challenges of the pandemic, noting that progress made during this turbulent period is truly exceptional. Her letter read:
I am writing to say how pleased I am that Mossbourne Community Academy has kept its outstanding judgement in its first inspection since the exemption was lifted. This is a tremendous achievement by you and your team. Not only does the inspection framework set a high bar for being judged outstanding, but you have achieved this in the context of all the disruption caused by COVID-19.
I hope that you and your whole school community are very proud. I also want to thank you for everything that you are doing to support your staff and pupils through what continue to be very challenging times. I wish you every success in the months and years ahead.
Rebecca Warren, Principal of Mossbourne Community Academy, said:
“We were delighted to receive our fantastic Ofsted report, reaffirming the excellence of our provision here at MCA, and this letter from Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is the cherry on top. We work diligently every day to ensure that we are doing the very best for our students, and though it has indeed been a challenging 2 years, we have never dropped that focus. As our Ofsted inspectors wrote, at MCA, ‘Nothing is left to chance.’ We develop intellectually curious, ambitious and compassionate individuals here who go on to great things, and it is uplifting to see that recognised by the inspectorate and by HMCI herself.
“We look forward to welcoming Ofsted back in the future to demonstrate our unceasing dedication to becoming one of the nation’s top schools.”
7 January 2022