Principal's Welcome

Welcome to Wayland Academy

I am proud to be the Principal of Wayland Academy, judged as 'good' by Ofsted in 2023 and continuing to move from strength to strength. Mine, and the shared vision of staff and students is for our small community school to be 'Leading the Way' in curriculum, character and the community.

Over the past four years our school has gone from strength to strength. In 2024 our school achieved a Progress 8 score of +0.61 which placed us 2nd in Norfolk for how much students progressed from when they started with us in year 7. Our students achievements are the result of lots of hard work from our students, support from their parents and families and the excellent teaching standards here at Wayland Academy. 

Our year 11s from the Class of 2025 worked incredibly hard throughout their time with us ensuring they had the grades they needed for the next steps of their choice. Collectively, they achieved the best results Wayland Academy has ever seen with 64% achieving grades 9-5 in English and Maths, 80% achieving grades 9-4 in English and Maths and 18% achieving 9-7 in English and Maths. These results placed us as the fifth highest performing school in Norfolk. For those students qualifying for pupil premium, 53% achieved grades 9-5 in English and Maths which placed us as the highest performing school in Norfolk for this measure.

In 2026 the upward trend continued with our results placing us as the fourth highest performing school in Norfolk and results for students qualifying for pupil premium set to place us, once again, as the top school in Norfolk for grades 9-5 and 9-7. We are incredibly proud of our students and delighted that their hard work paid off supporting them towards their independence and destination of choice for post-16.

Beyond academics Wayland Academy is a very warm, kind and welcoming school. Students enjoy school, proven by their excellent and improving attendance record, placing us in 2nd place across Norfolk for 2024-25 and 3rd in 2025-26. We work with the Inspiration Trust Attendance and Behaviour Hub, commissioned by the DfE, to share our best practice and support other schools in the region improve their attendance. We have high expectations and we work hard with families to build belonging and develop our students' character. Over the past year our students consistently reported engagement levels of 6.6, which is significantly above the national figure. Through our Enrichment Programme 'Wayland 100 by 16!' we offer a wide range of opportunities for all students to explore and develop their interests. I am delighted that over 30% of students participate in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and almost 20% participate in the Silver Award. In 2026 our students won the Trust's inter-school Champion's Day athletics competition for the second year in a row. We have also introduced weekly rugby fixtures for our year 7 and 8 students. In 2025 our students won a number of Trust competitions including our student band, Avarice, who won Battle of the Bands; and we won the Secondary Duet competition too! Our commitment to performing arts includes an annual school show from Lion King to Sister Act and this year Newsies.

Together we are asserting Watton’s position on the map as a town where young people can and do flourish and succeed. A place our town and surrounding villages can be proud of. We have joined Parent Friendly Schools (PFS) to develop our work in this area to maximise the joint efforts and work we do with families to ensure our young people fulfil their potential. We are pleased to say we achieved the PFS Standard Award in 2025-26 with a commitment to achieve Silver Award in 2026-27. Our Academy Committee includes members of the Wayland Chamber of Commerce who help to share our work and our students' successes with a wide range of people from our local community. We are working closely with the Flourish team from Norfolk County Council to secure Watton the accolade of being Norfolk's first 'Flourishing Town'!

Of course, these are all the headlines, please explore our website further to find out more or come and visit, you are more than welcome to come and see us in action.

Lucy Austin - Principal

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