Inspectors fear standards slipping at linked schools
Ofsted has expressed concern that standards may be slipping at two Bath schools.
Linked schools Moorlands Junior School and Moorlands Infant School were inspected within days of each other last month.
The schools, on adjoining Chantry Mead Road and Moorfields Road, both managed to maintain their ‘good’ Ofsted rating.
In both reports Ofsted said the institution “continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining”. These comments were made with reference to the schools’ last inspections in 2014–15.
The Bath and Mendip Partnership Trust, which took over the schools in 2017, says that while they had seen a rough patch since the last full inspections, the schools were now on the way up.
A spokesman said: “When comparing the reports, between 2014/15 and now, it is easy to understand why the inspection team feel that standards ‘may be declining.’
“The reality is that these are schools who have already faced and acknowledged their challenges and are now on a positive trajectory.”
The latest Ofsted reports did acknowledge that pupils enjoyed school at both sites.
For the junior school, the report said: “Pupils and staff have positive relationships with each other.”
Inspectors went even further for the infant school: “They say that their classmates and teachers are ‘fun and very kind.’ Pupils feel safe and say that staff care about them a lot.”
However, there were still notable concerns about the students’ learning. Inspectors said at the junior school “pupils have gaps in their knowledge”.
The report said: “Teachers are not adapting learning to pupils’ needs, including those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities … Many pupils do not achieve their potential.”
The junior school report continued: “Since the school’s previous inspection in 2015, the quality of education and pupils’ behaviour had declined. Standards in mathematics have not been high enough for some time.
“In recent weeks, leaders’ actions are strengthening teachers’ subject knowledge.
“… However, these emerging improvements in mathematics are not yet replicated in other subjects.
“The school’s curriculum is not well planned. Leaders have not ensured that there is a sharp enough focus on helping pupils to read and write as well as they should.
“Pupils who struggle to read accurately are beginning to catch up. However, these pupils do not read fluently yet.”
The infant school Ofsted report more clearly noted that the school was in a “period of transition”.
It said: “Following the previous inspection in 2014, the quality of education and pupils’ behaviour declined. There have been wholesale staff changes, including at leadership level.
“Trust leaders have now stabilised the school. New curriculum leaders are receiving well-targeted support to strengthen the school’s work.
“Leaders are capable and honest. They know that some unavoidable changes have been unsettling for the school community.
“The school is in a period of transition.”
However, it still said there were issues with students’ learning.
A spokesman for Bath and Mendip Partnership Trust said: “Over the last two-and-a-half years we have been working hard to ensure that the children continue to receive a strong standard of education – which is why we are delighted that both schools have ultimately secured a ‘good’ rating.
“We take heart from the fact that the inspectors note that the schools are ‘stabilised,’ that there is a ‘united spirit’ amongst staff and that parents are ‘overwhelming positive’ about teaching.”
The spokesman added that the trust’s aspirations for both schools were “high” and that Ofsted’s comments on areas for improvement mirrored the school’s own. It was addressing these areas and “real progress” was being made.