Ofsted’s school report is ‘challenged’
Rating is ‘disappointing and frustrating’
INSPECTORS have called for a school to rejig its curriculum as older pupils are not being given enough time to do some subjects.
St Edward’s CE Academy, in Leek, has now been rated as ‘requires improvement’ on the back of the concerns.
But other aspects of school life have been praised in the latest Ofsted report, including the high priority given to pupils’ reading skills and the array of lunchtime and after school activities.
Students told inspectors that teachers ‘help them to be the best they can be’ and they receive strong pastoral support. “Pupils thrive in what they describe as the ‘family atmosphere’ of the school,” says the report.
The middle school, which caters for nine to 13-year-olds, has been told to improve its curriculum for students in Years 7 and 8 in particular. Inspectors found subjects such as art and design and technology were not being studied in sufficient detail.
The report adds: “Leaders have started to develop the curriculum. However, there is still more to do. The curriculum is not sequenced well enough in most subjects. This means that pupils do not always know the important information that they need to learn.”
Yet some areas, such as careers education and personal, social and health education (PSHE), are planned well.
Ofsted noted that young people with special educational needs have a ‘variable’ experience.
Yet the school’s strengths include the way students are encouraged to develop their wider skills. Some take on leadership roles such as becoming prefects, travel ambassadors antibullying ambassadors.
Pupils in Year 8 also act as reading monitors, where they listen to younger children read once a week.
To promote reading across the school,
St Edward’s has a well-stocked library and runs a ‘read to succeed’ initiative to reinforce reading, spelling and vocabulary. Pupils are ‘enthusiastic’ about the books they are reading.
Pupils at St Edward’s generally behave with ‘care and respect towards each other.’ The report says: “Lessons are calm and pupils are attentive. Behaviour at break-times and lunchtimes is sometimes exuberant. This is well managed by staff.
“Some pupils report that they have experienced poor behaviour from other pupils. They say that staff deal with this, and incidents usually stop. However, sometimes leaders do not check again with the pupils.
“This means that leaders are not always aware whether the incident has been resolved. Leaders promote an ethos of respect and equality in the school.”
Tom Hutchinson, principal of St Edward’s revealed in a letter to parents that some of Ofsted’s findings were challenged by the school.
He said they secured ‘significant’ changes’ to the report, although the inspection grade remains the same.
In the letter, he added: “Their overall decision to grade us as ‘requires improvement’,’ based on the new assessment framework, is both a disappointment and frustration, considering the continuous efforts we have made over the past five years.”
The school was rated as requiring improvement in its previous Ofsted report in 2018.