£15m flagship city school faces closure after less than 10 years

IT COST £15m to build and was supposed to represent a new start for education in Hull when it opened less than 10 years ago.

But troubled secondary school Endeavour High could finally be put out of its misery next year after a report revealed just how unpopular it has become.

Only 37 parents have named Endeavour as their first preference for their children when the new school year starts in September – woefully short of the 240 places which will be available.

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A report to Hull Council’s Cabinet next Monday also notes that about 30 per cent of the current Year Seven pupils did not name Endeavour as their first choice.

The report, A Case For Closure by Judith Harwood, the council’s head of learning, participation and skills, said numbers are expected to continue to fall making the school non-viable, and recommends it is closed in August 2012.

It is a far cry from the heady days of 2004 when Endeavour was oversubscribed, with 298 first preferences for admission, and it has a lamentable record since then.

The school is now half empty, with just over 600 pupils attending the 1,200 capacity site in Beverley Road.

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According to Endeavour’s website, its aim is to give every child “the skills and aspirations to ensure they achieve throughout their lives”.

Its academic record tells a different story, however. The school has been in special measures –judged to be failing by education watchdog Ofsted – in all but two academic years since 2004.

The best rating Endeavour has achieved throughout this period has been “satisfactory”.

Only 30 per cent of pupils gained five or more GCSE passes at A* to C, including English and maths, at the last time of asking – below the city average of 42 per cent.

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Endeavour does face complex challenges. About a third of its pupils are from ethnic minorities and more than more than one in five speak English as a second language.

Ofsted’s latest monitoring inspection last November found that standards in English remained “particularly weak”.

The language barrier was not the only difficulty.

Although the school had made satisfactory progress since the previous inspection, there were continuing problems around a range of issues.

The quality of teachers’ marking was improving but remained “variable”.

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The inspector, Tom Grieveson, also said “...the quality of feedback to students in supporting their improvement too often lacks clarity and precision leaving them confused about what they should do next”.

His report added that attempts to seek the help of local shopkeepers in improving punctuality and attendance had not been greatly effective.

It said: “Lateness is being challenged but is not being followed through with those students who consistently ignore staff warnings.

“Efforts to enlist the support of local shopkeepers to stop serving students prior to the school’s start time are meeting with only limited success.”

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Endeavour’s former headteacher Chris Straker decided to leave his post before the start of the last school year and has been replaced by his deputy, Louise Wilson, who is now the acting headteacher.

To cap it all, last year city education officials said Endeavour had been built in the “wrong place”.

Ms Harwood’s report said: “Endeavour High School is not currently financially viable due to the fall in pupil numbers and the inherited budget deficit. Numbers are likely to continue to fall and as a result there is little likelihood that the financial position is fully recoverable.”

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