No one minds if we don’t do our best, pupils tell inspectors at ‘hippy’ school
Primary with relaxed attitude towards exams and behaviour is rated as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted
A SCHOOL which told pupils not to worry about exams has been given the lowest possible Ofsted rating after pupils told inspectors: “No one minds if we don’t do our best work”.
The primary school, which bans teachers from shouting at naughty children and tells pupils to “talk through” their disputes among themselves, was rated “inadequate” despite being awarded “good” at a previous review.
When Rachel Tomlinson took over as headteacher of Barrowford School, in Burnley, Lancs, seven years ago, it was given a new motto: “Learn to love, love to learn”. Ms Tomlinson says the motto represents the emphasis on learning to be a rounded person as well as following the national curriculum.
School policy states that “a child is not to be defined as naughty. It should be explained to the child that they have made a wrong choice”. And instead of raising their voices, teachers are told to “avoid humiliation” by asking a misbehaving child to go to another class and say: “You know I think you are wonderful but your mistaken behaviour shows me that at this moment in time it would be best for you to have some time here, where these children can help you to stop making that mistake.”
Even if a child is harmed by another, there is no punishment, but “restorative conferences” designed to “heal the damaged relationship”.
Children are encouraged to manage their emotions through peer-to-peer massage and to sort out any disputes between themselves by talking through their frustrations using New Age-style phrases such as “you have emptied my resilience bucket”.
Last year, a letter about exam scores sent to pupils from Ms Tomlinson and the head of year six, Amy Birkett, went viral on the internet. The message told pupils to remember that “the scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything”.
Ofsted gave Barrowford the lowest possible rating after an inspection carried out in July. Despite being rated “good” at a previous review in 2012, inspectors this year found two of the main five areas assessed – teaching quality and early years provision – were both “inadequate”.
In the report, they said that pupils told inspectors: “No one minds if we don’t do our best work.” They decided that the three other main categories – leadership and management; behaviour and safety of pupils; and achievement of pupils “require improvement”. The inspectors noted that leaders and managers had “not paid enough attention to ensuring all staff teach
the basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics well”. Chris McGovern, a former headteacher and chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “This school has used its pupils for an experiment and should hang its head in shame.”
Gill Jones, the lead Ofsted inspector who conducted the inspection, said in her report that teaching was “inadequate”, writing: “Staff expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough.
“The teaching of reading is ineffective. In some classes the weaker readers read aloud too infrequently to an adult. Children in Reception are not prepared for the curriculum in Year 1.
“Governors do not follow up the issues they identify for improvement in enough depth.”
She added: “The headteacher’s leadership has emphasised developing pupils’ emotional and social well-being more than the attainment of high standards.
“Behaviour requires improvement. In lessons, pupils do not always concentrate on what they are doing and are too easily distracted.
“More able pupils do not reach the higher levels in the national tests and assessments for seven to 11-year-olds.”