Wiltshire head wants school to be 'best in the area'

Last year Peter Lynch took over Sheldon School in Chippenham and told this paper he was planning to “raise expectations” on pupils by enforcing “stringent” uniform and behaviour policies.

At the start of his second academic year at the helm, Mr Lynch believes this policy and a range of other measures have improved pupils’ learning experiences in the last 12 months.

He said: “I was really lucky to take over a fabulous school with a strong reputation, there were a couple of things that needed improvement.

“To meet the needs of the students we focused on behaviour and ensured processes were put in place so we didn’t have disruptive lessons.

“I think expectations dropped previously… the Ofsted inspection before I arrived talked about behaviour and disruption in lessons.

“When we started in September systems and processes were put in place that meant teachers had the chance to teach and students had the chance to learn.”

READ MORE: Wiltshire secondary school praised by Ofsted for 'marked improvement'

The school was rated 'Good' by Ofsted in May (Image: Sheldon School) As well as behaviour, Mr Lynch says his first year focused on implementing systems to better meet students’ academic and personal needs.

This included a comprehensive teaching and learning framework with multiple stages, improving the facilities for pupils during breaks, altering the timetable, and taking on feedback from parents.

Mr Lynch added: “Since Covid education has changed and students have come back slightly different, there are more social, emotional and mental health needs.

“Students, particularly those with SEN, have had consistency and we’ve seen improvement with learning and engagement in the classrooms.

“In a short space of time we achieved a significant amount.”

This was rewarded by Ofsted following an inspection in March, which rated the 1,662-pupil secondary as ‘Good’.

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Sheldon School (Image: Sheldon School) Mr Lynch said he was “pleased” that the work done in the last few years had been recognised.

Looking ahead to his second year in charge, he was focused on improving academic outcomes for students.

“We’re moving in the right direction and there are green shoots in terms of outcomes”, said Mr Lynch.

“We know outcomes had fallen over the previous year, but we revamped the curriculum… we want to ensure students do well and our priority is to build on that.

“We’re aiming to be significantly above national average and the highest performing school locally.

“My passion is working with disadvantaged students and our aim is to make sure vulnerable students do as well as others at our school.”