Ofsted gives school more time to show improvement
A PRIMARY school that is said to have ‘faltered’ has been given time to improve by the government’s education watchdog.
St Thomas CofE Primary School in Werneth, Oldham, was given an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’ following it’s last Ofsted inspection in June, the report of which was released last week.
This represents a decline since the previous inspection three years ago, in which the school was given an overall rating of ‘good.’
The report states that since then ‘the school’s effectiveness in producing good academic outcomes for pupils has faltered,’ and ‘outcomes and progress dipped further in 2016.’
“Over the last three years, outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics have been variable and often significantly below the national average,” it says. “The progress that pupils made in reading was significantly below the national average. The progress that pupils made in mathematics was also below the national average.”
Among the key findings reported were that disadvantaged pupils do not perform as well as others nationally, particularly in reading and maths; subjects in the wider curriculum are not taught in sufficient depth; and the quality of teaching across the school is inconsistent.
However, the school was rated ‘outstanding’ for personal development, behaviour and welfare, and ‘good’ for early years provision.
The report says outcomes across the school are showing signs of improvement, particularly at key stage one and for disadvantaged pupils, and families in difficult circumstances receive ‘excellent’ levels of care, guidance and support.
“Safeguarding is given high priority,” it states. “Overall, standards of behaviour are impeccable. Children get off to a flying start to their education in the early years.” Headteacher Angela Knowles said: “We note the findings of our recent Ofsted inspection and we can assure parents that we already have plans in place to address specific issues as quickly as possible and make the required improvements.
“We were delighted with the outstanding judgement for personal development, behaviour and welfare. We are working round the clock as a team to deliver better outcomes for all our pupils.”