Challenge Partners Review

A Leigh UTC student is shown wearing overalls and plastic protective goggles during a Design and Technology class.

Dear Parents/Carers, 

We recognise how difficult the past 18 months have been and the sacrifices that all families, education and childcare settings have had to make. This has been an enormously challenging time for everyone and we would like to take the opportunity to thank you for everything you have done. 

We are delighted to inform you that the Quality Assurance Review (QAR) which was undertaken by the Challenge Partners organisation last week from Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th July was hugely successful. 

As you may know, we have not had an Ofsted inspection since February 2017. As an outward facing academy, who continually strives for excellence, we joined up with Challenge Partners through Leigh academies Trust. This partnership provides opportunities to focus on areas of improvement and to celebrate the strengths of our amazing UTC and staff team. 

We welcomed five reviewers, the lead reviewer who is an Ofsted trained lead inspector, three senior leaders and a Principal from another Academy. They looked at the strengths and areas for development of teaching and learning across the UTC, how well our pupils progress and how successful school improvement initiatives have been. 

The judgements were as follows: 

Leadership at all levels                              Leading

Quality of provision and outcomes          Leading

The Leigh UTC achieved a rare feat: on top of the highest grades in every category, we were awarded not one but two national “Areas of Excellence” in business engagement and for the Post 16 STEM curriculum.

A sample group of pupils from Years 7 – 12 were interviewed to give a pupil point of view. The reviewers were highly complimentary about the way our pupils spoke and described them as articulate and passionate about learning. 

Thank you as ever for all your support and I look forward to sharing the full report with you in the coming weeks.

Yours faithfully,

Steve Leahey

Principal