Ladywell Fields is unlikely to improve, unless it changes its intake. Hilly Fields' distance criteria is actually working in their favour, I think they're down to 800m (ish) for 1A girls. Nice well to do area, they’re not going to get many problem kids/families with that catchment distance. Self perpetuating, as better families move close to the school to get their daughters in.

Ladywell Fields (Crofton) on the other hand has accepted kids from 8km+ using their distance criteria. Shouldn't that set the alarm bells of any right minded parent ringing loudly?

Kingsdale was also failing. The 2002 OFSTED report is still on the web, along with the 2010 "outstanding" one. The 2002 report makes grim reading and from the opening paragraphs, it's clear what the problem is. Problem kids. The customers. Get rid of those and get some decent ones instead and bingo, the school will improve. They were distance based at the time, now distance isn't a factor - its random selection, with a bit of scholarship mystery thrown in (that nobody really seems to understand). Net effect, more nice people consider the school, try their hand with the scholarship process and whether they succeed or fail, they're attracted to the place and put it as number one on their list. End result? 2,000 applications from (mostly) nice people, strongly diluting the applications from the local undesirables. Add to that a bit of 1 in 10 random selection and you're left with very few rotten kids. 5 years (intakes) later, nice school, nice results.

Ladywell Fields hasn't worked this out. They've done some of the same things as Kingsdale. Shiny new building, new name, new management team and staff. Unfortunately, same rotten intake, so same results and reputation. Spaces available for anyone that moves into the area.

One teacher at Connisborough College (another hell hole school from what I saw) summed it up for me at the open evening last year. When I pressed him hard on why he and his colleagues preferred to quote - in an almost scripted format - "Value Added" results, which seem to be smoke and mirrors maths, rather than answering the straight questions I was asking about why they achieved such poor GCSE results. He finally snapped and said "It's not our fault that the kids are rubbish when they come here."

Says it all really. Connisborough has vacancies too.