Thorns Community College- Notes from the meeting held on Thursday 9th June 2011
Mr Deane Baker
Principal
Parents were welcomed and thanked for attending. Attendance was valued because it demonstrated
that parents cared about the school and that was clearly what the school needed to move forward.
It was made clear that the evening was about the future and where the school was going. Therefore
the past would not be dwelt upon except to outline a few relevant points of context. Neither would
individual staff or students be discussed in a public forum. This was not appropriate.
As the new Principal, Mr Baker would set out the current situation as he saw it before taking up post
in January. He would summarise the findings of the Ofsted report and then set out the College
Action Plan to address this before taking questions.
Also present to lend their support were: David Perrett- Assistant Director for Education, Tim SunterIEB Member and Lynn Plant- Local Authority Improvement Advisor
Context
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Staffing restructure in 2006
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No permanent Principal since April- 2009
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Financial Situation
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Removal of Governing body by Local Authority- Spring 2010
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Establishment of Interim Executive Board (IEB)- July 2010
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Appointment of Principal- July 2010
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Annexe building condemned- August 2010
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Principal takes up post- January 2011
The context is a complex situation with many factors impacting on the current position. However, a
staffing review and restructure in 2006 was a key component of some of the issues since it did away
with much of the pastoral support system for students.
The lack of a Principal from 2009 and small leadership team left the college without a strategic
direction and a lack of leadership capacity. This was compounded by financial difficulties; a legacy of
the previous regime. Governors proved to be ineffective in addressing these issues and were
removed by the LA in 2010 with the IEB being put in place in July 2010.
A new Principal was immediately appointed but could not take up post until January 2011. The
Annexe building was condemned in August 2010 and although replaced by temporary classrooms
has left the college short of play space.
2011 Priorities
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Financial Stability
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Leadership & Management
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Student Behaviour
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Pastoral Care, Guidance and Support
On 4th January 2011 the Principal addressed the staff and set out 4 priorities for 2011. They were
essentially the same issues that Ofsted highlighted and so the college was already working on this
when Ofsted came in. The financial situation was resolved by a restructure of staff and this is no
longer a concern.
Leadership and Management is very much an issue of capacity and roles and responsibilities, which
were being addressed.
Student behaviour disrupting learning was an ongoing issue but a new behaviour policy has made a
significant impact. Rates of exclusion are already down by 33% and this will continue to improve.
This also has a big impact on staff absence which has halved this term and is still improving.
Pastoral care, guidance and support was unfit for purpose hence the radical remodelling of this using
a Vertical House Mentor System. This will be in place for September and will have a huge impact
both on student behaviour but also support generally.
Ofsted

As a matter of urgency, seek students’, parents’ and carers’ views on why students do not
feel safe in school and take action to address their concerns.

Improve behaviour and reduce exclusions to below the national average by March 2012 by
ensuring that procedures for managing behaviour are applied consistently and effectively by
all staff.
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Strengthen leadership and management at all levels beyond that of the headteacher by
developing the skills of managers in monitoring, evaluating, analysing data and planning for
improvement in order to promote consistency of approach, especially with respect to
teaching.

Carry out a full audit of students’ needs in terms of community cohesion, plan and
implement actions to promote their interest in, and understanding of, other faiths and
cultures, and evaluate the impact of the actions on students’ social and cultural
development
The 4 Ofsted priorities very much reflect what the college was already doing and this is referred to
by the inspector in the report. This meeting is the first step in re-establishing proper
communications with parents. Students have already been consulted on safety and they say things
are improving. This was backed up by the LA in a recent monitoring visit which found that both
safety and behaviour were significantly better than in March.
Leadership and management is being tackled by the action plan, additional training and by
secondments of additional staff, some of which are already in place.
Community cohesion refers to the students’ knowledge and appreciation of other cultures and their
contribution to their own community. This is an ongoing and improving situation with an audit well
underway which will lead to a very clear plan of action.
College Action Plan

To improve overall attainment to at least national average benchmarks by Summer 2012
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To ensure all students make appropriate progress relative to their starting points
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To ensure students feel safe in College (KEY ISSUE 1)
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To promote positive learning behaviours (KEY ISSUE 2)
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To improve the quality of teaching and learning.
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To improve curriculum provision
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To introduce a new vertically aligned, house based mentor system
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To strengthen the college leadership, at all levels beyond the Principal, by developing the
skills of managers in monitoring, evaluating, analysing data and planning for
improvement. (KEY ISSUE 3)

To promote and enhance community cohesion (KEY ISSUE 4)
The plan itself is large and detailed but for the purposes of the meeting it was broken down into 9
main objectives, which have numerous actions attached to them. The 4 key areas from Ofsted were
woven into this.
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Attainment was a key area and, although not made a into a big issue by Ofsted, it was one of
the factors in the final judgement. An English, Maths and Science Challenge was being
implemented specifically to drive up standards in these core areas and work had already
started on this.
Progress was also an area of concern and very specific targeting, tracking and monitoring of
students was something which needed to be introduced. Current systems are inadequate
but once again work was already underway to address this and improve things for next term.
Safety was key issue 1 from Ofsted and a target had been set to address this in the summer
term. Already students were reporting that things had improved significantly but further
monitoring would take place.
Behaviour was key issue 2 and there were a number of actions here to support the new
policy which was introduced in January. Again this was improving and exclusions are already
down by 33% on the same time last year. Consistency of practice amongst staff was still an
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issue but next year a new inclusion centre would be in place to further strengthen work in
this area.
Teaching & learning was an area that needed improving and it was understood that parents
had legitimate concerns about homework and marking in particular as well as too many
supply staff. Ofsted observed that almost 60% of lessons were at least ‘good’ or
‘outstanding’ and the plan was to increase this measure by additional training and work on
differentiation.
The curriculum was ‘satisfactory’ in the inspection but a whole scale review would be carried
out in the Autumn to improve the offer to students and better meet all their needs.
Improved ICT provision was already in hand with 37 new computers on the way for next
term.
A new Vertical House Mentor System would be in place for September, which would have
the single biggest effect on student behaviour and support. Students would be in far smaller
groups with more time spent with guidance staff. This would lead to a more effective
support system to deal with academic progress as well as behaviour and attendance.
Leadership & management at all levels is being strengthened with more capacity and
additional training. The college has teamed up with a number of other schools to support
this as well as the LA. 2 additional members of the leadership team would be in place in
September and a re-organisation of roles and responsibilities would also be implemented to
ensure better outcomes.
Community Cohesion was key issue 4 and refers to the need of the college to better prepare
the students for a challenging and changing world. Better cultural links both locally,
nationally and internationally will all be tackled and the college specialism of performing arts
will be at the forefront of this work.
Another change, which will take effect in September is the return to a full 30 lessons a week and all
days being the same, with the removal of the early finish on Friday. This will increase the amount of
learning time, which will go into English, Maths and ICT. The new college day will reduce the amount
of time spent in registrations, since this can be done in lessons electronically and it will maximise
learning time and guidance time with mentors.
The Principal spoke about why he had been attracted to Thorns and it had been because of the
potential in the college. It would certainly be a challenge to realise that potential. However, the
college was not ‘broken’ or failing in all areas. There were plenty of strengths, good staff and a
willingness to work hard to improve. Both Ofsted and the DfE were happy that the Principal knew
what needed to be done and was capable of doing it and his plans and actions had been endorsed
and supported. With help from the LA and other schools the college would be out of special
measures within 18 months.
Questions
A question and answer session then followed which covered a range of issues. The Principal
addressed and answered concerns raised by parents around the following issues:
Supply staff & teaching staff absence
Poor teaching standards
Homework
Marking
Student behaviour
Reports and parent consultation
The establishment of a ‘parent champion.’