WHEN Sean Tucker arrived at St Gregory the Great Catholic School, he saw pupils loitering in the corridors during class and students bearing a blatant disregard for the uniform rules.

Having been handed Ofsted’s worst rating just months earlier, morale at the East Oxford all-through academy was at a low ebb.

After the two subsequent reports from the regulator, which criticised the pace of progress, parents would have been forgiven for giving up and taking their children out.

Last month, however, perseverance finally paid off and the school proved its critics wrong.

Ofsted’s latest monitoring report was a world away from its predecessors, and inspectors said leaders were ‘working with momentum, determination and focus’ and ‘no longer making excuses for failures in the past’.

It was a milestone in the school’s journey to getting out of special measures, which acting headteacher Mr Tucker credited to a hard-working team and a shared vision for change.

The father-of-three said: "When I first arrived in the secondary section of the school, students were milling around the corridors and late to lessons, which was a bit bizarre to me.

"I spent quite a lot of time chasing students into lessons and ensuring they were following their correct timetable.

"The school, in my view, had been a bit unloved for a while and things had been allowed to slip.

"You would walk into a class and see two or three students still sitting in their coats, with no real sense of purpose. It had become part of an acceptance of the culture and ethos of the school.

"Everywhere you looked, a system didn’t exist or it was broken.

"A lot of people who remember it [like that] have noticed a transformation."

St Greg’s in Cricket Road is run by the Dominic Barberi Multi Academy Company, and currently has about 1,200 pupils on roll.

It was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted following an inspection in March 2017, with behaviour, attendance and safeguarding raised as concerns.

In contrast, the latest monitoring report stated: “The worrying incidents of disrespectful and defiant behaviour seen outside of class at the last monitoring inspection were not evident this time.

“Around the site, pupils of all ages are friendly and polite. They wear their uniform proudly and try to show off their best side in lessons and with visitors.”

Mr Tucker joined the school in September 2017 as assistant principal, having been invited by Elizabeth Lutzeier, who was drafted in to help guide improvements at the school.

Ms Lutzeier, a designated ‘national leader of education’, was formerly headteacher at an ‘outstanding’-rated school in Surrey, where Mr Tucker joined from.

Having worked at his previous school for 17 years, as head of religious education then assistant headteacher, it was a significant change to move to a school at the other end of Ofsted’s ratings hierarchy.

Mr Tucker, who became the school's acting head in January, said: “I wanted a fresh challenge. It was certainly a bit of a change.

“I could see there was real potential, it was just about making sure systems were put in place.

“Children are children anywhere - provided you have got systems that work, then everyone can achieve and do their level best.”

The school teaches children aged 3-19, and its primary sector already has a strong reputation - even in the 'inadequate' report, Ofsted rated early years provision 'good'.

Mr Tucker credited Hannah Forder-Ball, head of the primary phase, for 'establishing an energetic and committed team'.

He added: "She understands the local community well and has built up the primary sector's positive reputation among parents."

The acting head also praised the rest of his team including Heather Pallier, acting deputy head, and assistant headteachers Pauline and Paul Wileman.

The school has had three monitoring inspections from Ofsted since the initial ‘inadequate’ rating, and expects to have another in the next few months.

Mr Tucker said staff shared concerns about the second monitoring report, which was critical of the multi-academy trust.

He added: "There were elements that weren't a fair and accurate assessment of where the school was at, however, the third monitoring visit did reflect the progress that the school had made."

Students now have slightly shorter lessons to avoid their concentration tailing off, and staff and governors have created a collaborative development plan clearly setting out aims for progression.

The multi-academy trust is in the process of merging with the Pope Francis Catholic Multi Academy Company, as part of the Archdiocese of Birmingham’s hope to unite all Catholic schools in Oxfordshire.

Mr Tucker, who is ambitious for the school, said the goal was to become 'good' and eventually 'outstanding'.

He said: “The students deserve better. All the negativity that goes around with a school in special measures is quite damaging - it’s quite a shame.

“When the [latest] Ofsted came out, it buoyed the school up a little and there was a sense of self-worth.”

When the Oxford Mail visited the school before half term, students were seen studiously reading in the library, taking part in discussions with their teachers in class and creating impressive group artwork.

Students wore their smart uniform proudly, and the corridors were empty of pupils during class time.

The hard work is not over yet - according to the latest Department for Education data, the school had some of the lowest GCSE results and attendance figures in the county in the last academic year - though its progress score at A-Level in 2017 was one of the best.

But staff have recognised what needs improving, according to Ofsted, and there now seems to be a tangible sense of determination at the top.

Mr Tucker added: "Staff across the whole of St Gregory’s are immensely proud of our students and grateful to our parents and governors for supporting the school through difficult times.

"St Gregory the Great School is a great place to be."