Everest Community Academy

Academy History

The predecessor school to the Academy was called the John Hunt of Everest School. The Headteacher from 2007, and from the opening of the school as an Academy in 2011, was Julie Rose. From 2014 the Principal has been Nick Price, who began his teaching career in 1986 as a Maths teacher.

When plans were announced to turn the predecessor school into an Academy there was considerable local opposition, including a petition signed by 400 parents against the proposal. The local authority gave £27m in order to rebuild the school and when Academies Enterprise Trust was chosen as the Sponsor for the Academy, residents expressed concerns making comments such as:

I don't see how a private firm based in Essex will do any better running the school than the current Local Education Authority in Hampshire – one of the best in the country.

However AET is committed to developing learners into world class learners and so it took over Everest Community Academy in order to raise standards and bring about world class learning.

Academic Standards

This table shows the proportion of pupils achieving 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C (including English and Maths).

Cells coloured red represent 5 GCSE A*-C (including English and Maths) results which are below the minimum standards expected by the Government floor target, or OFSTED grades which indicate that standards need to be improved or Department for Education letters stating that standards are 'unacceptably low.' Cells in darker grey indicate data from periods of time when the academy was not part of the AET group.

When the school converted to an Academy, the local MP Maria Miller stated:

I know Everest is a school which is clearly going from strength to strength, and with the support in place because of the academy change, that will ensure it continues into the future.

However the first set of academic results after the school converted into an Academy saw a drop of 6% to 34% of students achieving 5 GCSEs at A*-C (including English and Maths). The school initially refused to release details of its exam results, as the results placed the Academy in the group of 195 schools nationally (out of 3000 secondary schools) which failed to meet the government minimum benchmark for schools.

Standards improved in 2013 with a rise in exam results, although OFSTED graded the school as ‘Requiring Improvement’ because:

Teaching is not yet consistently good and is occasionally inadequate. This results in some students achieving less than they could.

Mike Barnett, on behalf of AET stated:

Everest is a rapidly improving academy, and its huge improvement in GCSE results this year has been achieved through the enormous efforts of its staff, students, governors, parents and carers. We are extremely proud of them all and look forward with real confidence to the future.

Due to concerns about the exam results Lord Nash, on behalf of the Department for Education, issued a Pre-Warning Letter to the Academies Enterprise Trust. In that letter he said:

the Secretary of State considers that the standards of performance at the Everest Academy are unacceptably low and likely to remain so.

In the following year, 2014, exam results fell back to below the minimum benchmark expected by the government, placing the academy in the group of 330 schools nationally which were failing to meet that minimum benchmark standard.

Local councillors expressed concerns about the poor standards. Councillor Jayawardena called for the opening of a new Free school to drive up standards because Everest Academy was the worst performing secondary school in the area and in the bottom 5 of all Hampshire schools.

Departing headteacher Julie Rose stated in 2014:

There is a very strong staff, and I think they are well-placed to take the school on to get an ‘outstanding’ grading in the future.

Starting in post in 2014 Mr Price, the new Principal stated:

The staff here are hard-working and are keen to make things brilliant for the children. I feel really lucky to have come to a school that has such fantastic facilities but also such a strong group of staff.

Exam results in 2015 (according to the First Statistical Release) looked to be below the government benchmark of 40% of pupils achieving 5 GCSEs at A*-C (including English and Maths). However the figure does represent an improvement on the previous year and in the final release the figure is 40% following re-marks and late results not on first release..

Due to concerns about the poor standards, borough councillors called for the Academy to be handed back by AET, to the control of the local authority so that standards could be improved. Noden councillor Paul Harvey stated:

None of the children and none of the staff or parents deserve to have a school that isn’t succeeding, but which can succeed with the support of the Basingstoke family of schools.

John Coughlan the head of the Hampshire Local Authority team for improving schools said:

…we will continue to challenge academies and their sponsors on behalf of Hampshire children as is appropriate.

Mike Barnett on behalf of AET said:

To call for Everest to return to the local authority on the basis of one set of results is, we believe, very premature.

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education at the time (April 2013) stated that:

to make significant improvements to a school’s performance will take time. Nevertheless, we are determined that this will be achieved at the earliest possible opportunity with Everest as an AET Academy.

In 2015 with examination standards continuing to be below national averages, OFSTED graded the school as ‘requiring improvement,’ which was the same grade given in 2013. Nick Price the Principal said:

I am very proud of what we’ve done so far and of the staff and especially the students. I am so determined to make this into a great school and this takes us one step closer.

Everest Community Academy has a history of releasing exam results which are subsequently found to be lower than those initially claimed. In 2013 it was initially claimed that 54% of pupils had gained 5 GCSEs at A*-C (including English and Maths), although that figure was subsequently found to be only 53%. In 2014 it was initially claimed that 38% of pupils had achieved 5 GCSEs at A*-C (including English and Maths) but the figure subsequently recorded in the official league tables as 33%. In 2015 the Academy initially claimed that 39% of pupils had achieved 5 GCSEs at A*-C (including English and Maths) but the figure recorded in the 2015 league table (Statistical First Release) was 36% although with all results included and any remarks adjusted the final and correct figure is 40% .

Extra curricular

Everest Pupils proudly took part in the Skillstree business challenge followed by a dedicated day working with Honda the car manufacturer to improve students awareness of business. In 2012 an Everest pupil as selected to carry the Olympic Torch through the town. Controversially in 2014 the school announced an intention to open a Sixth Form, but the plans were criticised by local college leaders and the local authority stated that there was no need for a Sixth Form. The Academy then decided not to continue with the proposal.

The role of the Sponsor

AET support for Academies at the local level is led by the AET Regional Director of Education (known as a RDE). The 2014 OFSTED report about AET explained that ‘some academy leaders said that there was too much variability in the support and challenge offered by Regional Directors employed by AET.'

During 2015 the RDE for Everest Community Academy was Elizabeth (Libby) Nicholas. Libby Nicholas was previously a deputy headteacher at an Independent girls school Sutton High School and then an interim headteacher at independent girls school South Hampstead High School during the summer term in 2013.