School brought flock of sheep into its site - now its one of Doncaster's best 'value added' schools

The school was rated with a negative ‘value added’ score by education bosses. Historically, its exam results had been at the lower end of the table in the borough. A few years ago it was ranked 46 in a table of 55 ‘comparable’ schools in terms of their socia-economic areas.

But this year there is much to smile about at the Conisbrough school. League tables for 2019, which have just been published, rate the school third in Doncaster when it comes to the value added measure, called progress eight, which has hit 0.27, described by the Government as above average. Only Rossington All Saints (0.57) and Outwood Academy Danum (0.41) score higher, both also showing significant improvement to maintain their places at the top of the table.

Generally speaking, a progress eight score of above zero shows students are making better than expected progress, while a negative mark means the opposite.

The school is also up to ninth in that table of 55 ‘comparable’ schools. And on top of all this, it even has a flock of sheep!

For de Warren, the changes have started to be noticed by the community. This year saw the school oversubsubscribed for the first time.

Principal Anna Rooney said: “We have had really positive feedback – we now have people applying to come here from outside the area, after visiting the school. It is nice that we are sought after when people have visited.

“Everything is based on respect, and the aspiration for people to be the best that they can be. We are developing that culture all the time.”

Mrs Rooney said that a few years ago it was not fashionable among some of the pupils to be successful at school. But there has been work to change that mindset.

The school has a culture of rewarding hard work and application among pupils, rather than just high achievement and success. Youngsters collect stickers, amassing points that earn them rewards.

Success also sees parents sent postcards praising what their children have done. The school believes this helps get parents engaged and involved in their children’s education. They now also run revision classes during school holidays, which many pupils have taken up.

The school has also benefited from being part of an Opportunity Area, set up by the Government. It helps schools work together to share best practice. The school also pays for pupils to experience cultural opportunties that traditionally many people in Conisbrough missed out, such as theatre visits.

“We are building pride, and making it cool to acheive,” said Mrs Rooney. “Our last monitoring visit by Ofsted said we had ‘cultured an ethos of success’ in the school. We have put a lot of time and effort turning that around.”

“It is great to see outcomes improving right across Doncaster schools. We are particularly proud of our turnaround and grateful to dedicated staff, supportive parents and pupils committed to being their very best.”

The school is currently classed as requires improvement by Ofsted.

Work has also been done to bring in more careers help, with employers and coming in to visit. The school runs trips to universities to show pupils the opportunities that are presented through higher education, with some pupils taking part in research projects linked into these visits.

It also now has weekly meetings in each subject, looking at exactly what can be done to help each pupil, and putting in place plans to support any youngsters who may be falling behind. It has introduced a support scheme, called The Bridge, for pupils experiencing personal difficulties.

This year has seen new developments at the school.

Music teaching returned to the syllabus in September after having been taken out several years ago. All year eight youngsters learn the subject now, with guitar and singing lessons available.

It has also just had a major refurbishment of the school sports changing rooms.

There are plans in the pipeline for a state of the art 4G articificial sports pitch.

“We have had initial meetings with the FA about this,” said Mrs Rooney. “If it works out, the FA offer match funding for such pitches. But the cost is expected to be over £300,000.”

Flock of sheep

De Warenne Academy is thought to be the only school in Doncaster with a flock of sheep.

Part of the school’s grounds are used as grazing land by their local owner, with pupils given the chance to feed them with sheep nuts as part of their education. They were brought in several years ago under a previous headteacher.

Mrs Rooney said: “A local resident looks after them. But we have a lot of land and we wanted to be able to use it environmentally. We have to do a Defra return for them. It is certainly the first school where I’ve had to do that.”

Doncaster secondary schools table, 2019 results (Progress eight score, % passing English and maths GCSE at grade five or better)

Rossington All Saints Academy 0.57 (well above average), 53%;

Outwood Academy Danum 0.41 (above average), 49%;

De Warenne Academy 0.27 (above average), 36%;

The Hayfield School 0.23 (above average), 59%;

XP School 0.21 (above average), 34%;

Hall Cross Academy 0.17 (above average), 40%;

Hungerhill School 0.12 (average), 38%;

Armthorpe Academy 0.11 (average), 33%;

Outwood Academy Adwick -0.01 (average), 32%;

Don Valley Academy -0.09 (average), 41%;

Ridgewood School -0.09 (average), 48%;

Ash Hill Academy -0.09 (average), 35%;

McAuley Catholic High School -0.18 (average), 40%;

Mexborough Academy -0.32 (below average), 29%;

Trinity Academy-0.38 (below average), 24%;

Campsmount Academy -0.41 (below average), 38%;

Sir Thomas Wharton Academy -0.53 (well below average), 41%;

Astrea Academy Woodfields -0.8 (well below average), 24%;