Ian Foster of Walford wonders how Hereford Academy sees its future now? (From Hereford Times)

Ian Foster of Walford wonders how Hereford Academy sees its future now?

12:00pm Thursday 4th February 2010 in

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IN the letters page of the Hereford Times of June 18, 2009, John Sheppard, the head of the Hereford Academy, in seeking public support for his school, regaled your readers with a lengthy account of how successful it is.

He described it as “outstanding”.

With the recent publication of league tables for secondary schools in England, we have seen the disclosure of the fact that last summer only 25 per cent of Hereford Academy’s pupils achieved the benchmark of at least five A* to C grades including the key subjects of English and mathematics.

In this respect it is, by some distance, the worst-performing school in the county. It is also one of the worstperforming schools in the entire country.

The stark and appalling fact is that a few weeks after the publication of Mr Sheppard’s letter, 75 per cent of his pupils left the school lacking the basic level of skills demanded by employers.

Given the current huge financial investment in the school and the fact that Government ministers have threatened that state schools face closure or takeover in 2011 if they do not ensure that at least 30 per cent of pupils gain five good grades, your readers may well now want to know how Mr Sheppard views the future for his school.