How do you turn around a school on four sites separated by water, where all special educational needs must be supported in-house and where everyday costs are 20 per cent higher than anywhere else in the country? The leadership team at , the only school on the Isles of Scilly, appear to have found the answer after a gruelling seven-year improvement journey. Freddie Whittaker reports Five Islands was , prompting an academy order and a tricky search for a sponsor. Pupils of the Five Islands Academy Ministers鈥 preference is for schools in trusts to be an hour鈥檚 drive from each other. So who would take on a school that is a 2hr 45min ferry trip from the mainland? (In this case, Penzance in Cornwall.) But in 2019, following what the chair describes as the 鈥渕ost complex academy conversion the DfE had ever done鈥, the school joined with Mounts Bay Academy in Penzance to form the Leading Edge Academies Partnership. Huge senior staff turnover followed, as did wide-ranging professional development for middle leaders who stepped up to senior roles. Staff were also seconded from its new sister school. Inspectors , rating it 鈥榞ood鈥 with 鈥榦utstanding鈥 pupil development. Ofsted praised the 鈥渞emarkable range of cultural experiences for pupils鈥, who 鈥渄evelop a powerful sense of community鈥. The school鈥檚 curriculum now 鈥渉elps pupils to gain the knowledge and skills they need to be successful鈥. Getting Isles of Scilly residents on board Jackie Eason, a governance consultant drafted in as chair of an interim executive board to oversee the academisation, remains Leading Edge鈥檚 chair. She says they had to deal with a 鈥渓ot of mistrust, a lot of wariness from the island community鈥hey didn’t want to lose their individuality鈥. For example, parents feared they would lose provision on St Agnes, one of four island bases, where the school鈥檚 roll was due to fall to a single pupil. 鈥淭hey needed to know that the trust they were joining understood why you have to keep the school open, even with just one child. Is it a sound economic decision? Absolutely not. But you can’t transfer primary school children from that island daily.鈥 Islanders also worried that the school鈥檚 boarding provision, rated 鈥榠nadequate鈥 in 2013 for pupil safety, and leadership and management, would be closed. Instead, it was taken on and improved, rated 鈥榞ood鈥 in 2019 and again this year. 鈥楨thos and culture change鈥 Eason says the 鈥渨hole culture and ethos鈥 at the school had to change. Middle leaders had to step up and receive intensive CPD, because a lack of housing on the islands would have made recruiting a whole new team impossible. 鈥淐an you imagine working as a teacher in that school when you’ve been judged inadequate, but you鈥檝e still got to see all the parents every day down the Co-op, in the pub. You can’t escape.鈥 Secondary pupils board at the school鈥檚 site on St Mary鈥檚, while primary children are taught in mixed-age classes at three other island bases. Key stage 2 children travel to the main site on a Friday, but 鈥渟ometimes that is disrupted due to weather and tides鈥. A weather warning on a Thursday or Friday can mean boarding secondary pupils have to go home early to other islands. They sometimes have to learn from home, but every one has an iPad. 拢60,000 Isles of Scilly boating bill for one year Its location also means the school has an 鈥渆ye-watering鈥 boating budget, with transport an 鈥渆xpensive aspect of our life here鈥. Although the local authority foots the bill for home-to-school transport, all other travel is funded by the school. Rachel Gibb, the school鈥檚 head, spent 拢60,000 on boating last year 鈥渁nd I can’t afford to do that again鈥. Headteacher Rachel Gibb As a remote school, it does receive enhanced funding, but still faces huge pressures. The need to ship everything over adds 20 per cent to costs. But the 鈥渂eauty鈥 of the islands has its benefits. Post-Covid, the school has had 鈥渕uch more interest鈥 in jobs from people 鈥渓ooking for a complete change鈥. 鈥淭he biggest issue that I have is accommodation,鈥 says Gibb. The housing crisis caused by holiday rentals in Cornwall is 鈥渃ompounded even further鈥 on the Isles of Scilly. 鈥淲hen I recruit, at the back of my mind is always 鈥榳here are they going to live鈥.鈥 So the trust keeps 鈥渁 number of rolling tenancies鈥 which it sub-lets to staff. The school could not do that without the trust鈥檚 support, she says. Varying class sizes and multi-skilled teachers With just 248 children on roll, 鈥渋t looks on paper like it should run like clockwork. And to be fair, most of the time, it really does. But then there鈥檚 all of the peripheral stuff.鈥 The school has huge variations in class sizes. Its current year 2 has 14 children. Year 4 has 38. Teachers have to be multi-skilled. The geography teacher also teaches PSHE. Its French teacher teaches food technology. Staff participate in 鈥渞esearch circles鈥 with others from the trust, and lead practitioners from Five Islands support the other schools in the trust, and vice-versa. Its RE lead recently contributed to a new curriculum for the whole of Cornwall. The school also has to be fully-inclusive. There is no alternative or specialist provision on the Isles of Scilly 鈥渟o we have to do everything, and that obviously can be really demanding of our budgets鈥, Eason says. 鈥淭here has never been a permanent exclusion. We just don’t, because we need to cater to the needs of all the children in that community.鈥 Isles of Scilly staff stayed through horrible times Gibb, who joined the school in 2020, says one of the factors in its improvement has been the 鈥渟ignificant number of staff that stayed鈥 through that really horrible, tricky, turbulent time鈥. Since her arrival the school has reviewed its behaviour policy with a 鈥渃ommitment to a restorative approach鈥. It has strengthened the 鈥渂ridge鈥 between years 6 and 7. Capacity in middle leadership has increased and she has learnt the name of 鈥渆very child and adult in the school, on each island鈥. School 鈥榳ouldn鈥檛 function鈥 without trust Although the trust was heavily involved in the 鈥渧ery robust鈥 school improvement process, it also trusted the school鈥檚 leadership to run things 鈥渋n the way that we think is appropriate鈥. The remote location meant that Gibb was not there for the latest Ofsted inspection 鈥 the call came while she was leading a trip to London. 鈥淚 was getting on a boat in Greenwich. And I got the phone call from my colleagues to say Ofsted called. I thought they were joking.鈥 At that point the trust鈥檚 central team 鈥渓eapt into action鈥. Its chief operating officer flew to the Isles of Scilly to take Gibb鈥檚 place. Theodore wasn鈥檛 enough time for her to get back so she moved into an AirBnb in the capital to participate in the inspection remotely. 鈥淚 cannot see how a school like this would function without the support of something like a trust.鈥 What鈥檚 next? Eason鈥檚 involvement was supposed to be brief. But she is still there, six years later. Her next priority is boosting SEND provision. Jackie Eason 鈥淚 was hoping to go in, help them solve the problems and then leave. But you can’t leave because it’s just such an inspiring, challenging, fabulous role.鈥 The school improvement journey is also not over. Ofsted said teaching was 鈥渘ot adapted consistently in the light of potential barriers to pupils鈥 learning鈥. Pupils with insecure basic skills, such as those who lack fluency in reading and maths, 鈥渟truggle to keep up with their peers when learning new content鈥. 鈥淭he trust should ensure that the school helps teachers to identify pupils who are likely to require new content further broken down.鈥 In a letter to parents, Gibb said the areas of improvement were 鈥渘o surprise and already included in our academy improvement plan鈥. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e been alongside us all the way, and we鈥檙e grateful for your ongoing support and challenge which has helped to shape our school to be an organisation that we鈥檙e proud and privileged to be part of.鈥