Clarendon Academy in Trowbridge is continuing to strive for excellence after it came out of special measures and received a ‘good with outstanding leadership’ Ofsted report in the first 50 weeks of headteacher Mark Stenton’s tenure.

In October 2010, the secondary, in Frome Road, was put in special measures, with Mr Stenton replacing former headteacher Colin Kay in June 2011, tasked with turning around Clarendon’s fortunes.

“The most important thing was that we established a noexcuse culture, that teachers had to get the very best they can from our children,” said Mr Stenton.

“The school has always had good kids and staff, we are very proud of what we have achieved, but for me this only the beginning of the journey and we are continuing to strive for excellence.”

During Mr Stenton’s time with Clarendon, the school has become an academy, teaming up with The Education Fellowship, which oversees a number of schools across the country. The school now receives its funding directly from central government, cutting out local authority control, with additional funding coming from TEF, which act as its sponsor. The group is made of experts from the business and education sector who are trying to bring a new approach to teaching young people.

TEF was formed by Sir Ewan Harper CBE and Johnson Kane and the organisation has been impressed with the change they’ve seen at Clarendon.

Mr Kane said: “If you walk around the school today, the pupils look sharper and much more focused and Mark has managed to communicate his endless pursuit of excellence very well.

“We are very proud of what Mark and his staff are doing and look forward to what the future holds.”

The partnership with TEF has opened doors for Clarendon’s pupils and got them thinking about higher education. The academy has also enjoyed a series of guest lectures, including a visit from professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, vice-chancellor of the University of Bath. A close relationship has formed between the two institutions, leading to the launch of a mentoring scheme with some of the university’s students advising Clarendon’s pupils on future options.

“Part of the work we are doing is telling the children that higher education is an achievable aspiration and we’ve seen the lecture theatre filling out whenever we’ve had guest speakers from universities,” said Mr Stenton.

“The children have a mentality to succeed.

“I once gave a talk on birds of prey, and talked of an eagle that thinks it’s a chicken. The point of it is that the eagle learns to fly high.

“Afterwards, the students came back and suggested we name our houses after birds of prey.”

The partnership also looks at improving staff and at the end of March Mr Stenton will be joining heads from TEF’s other schools on a leadership training course while later in the year he’ll be travelling to New York to take part in the Charter Schools Programme to learn about techniques which helped turnaround schools in Harlem, Central Brooklyn, and south Bronx.

Sir Ewan said: “We want to break barriers, extend horizons and help our young people grow.”

He said TEF aims to allow children to enjoy their education and regularly organises trips for their schools to universities to have lectures in sciences, the arts and other subjects as often as possible.

For more information about Clarendon Academy, visit www.theclarendoncollege.com or call 01225 762686 and to learn more about TEF visit www.educationfellowship.net

CRAIG JONES