Teachers shocked by Ofsted censure

9:30am Friday 27th April 2012 in Education Photograph of the Author By Fran Bardsley, covering Education, East Oxford and Cowley. Call me on 01865 425439

STAFF at an Oxford primary school plunged into special measures last night admitted they were surprised at inspectors’ criticisms.

Cumnor Primary School said it was taken aback by the level of concerns Ofsted made in its report.

The report has just been released after inspectors visited the school in February.

Chairman of governors Jane Millin said: “The outcome of this inspection was much worse than most of the governing body expected.

“The range of issues raised by Ofsted far exceeded what we expected.

“We fully understand that this outcome is unacceptable to the pupils and parents of the school as well as to the wider community that we serve.”

Criticisms included inadequate progress and achievement by pupils, shortcomings in teaching and weaknesses in leadership and management.

Since the inspection was carried out, former senior leader Pauline Roberts and Rob Shadbolt, deputy headteacher at Matthew Arnold School, have been appointed acting headteachers.

Heather Broom was headteacher at the time of the inspection in February.

More than 100 parents attended a meeting on Tuesday to hear about plans for improvement.

Mrs Roberts said: “There is great potential in this school.

“With the level of parental commitment already apparent at the school and the commitment of the staff and governors, this school will thrive.”

Mr Shadbolt added: “The teaching and support staff have gathered themselves and are working as one to achieve the targets laid out in the school action plan. We are determined to show that this can be a first-class place.”

Mrs Millin said there was good teaching in the school – recognised in the report for Key Stage Two and in Early Years Foundation – and said the challenge was for good practice to be demonstrated throughout the school until all teaching was good.

She said: “I have a vested interest in the school because my children go there.

“We have already had a lot of support from parents.

“We believe the school has the capacity to improve quickly and we are all determined to make that happen.”

She said early discussions had been made about the possibility of academy status as a route for improvement.

Melinda Tilley, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for schools improvement, said: “We were surprised but we are already trying to do something about it.

“We do have a lot of very good schools in Oxfordshire but when one does fall by the wayside, it’s up to us to do something about it fairly quickly.”

The school went into special measures the day the report was published, April 24.

It was rated good at an inspection in 2006. Last year 65 per cent of pupils achieved the expected level in both English and maths at Key Stage Two. The Government benchmark is 60 per cent.

Last year, 90 per cent of Year Two pupils achieved the expected standard in Key Stage One tests in reading, writing and maths – all above the national average.

Comments (4)

9:52am Fri 27 Apr 12

Major Oxford says...

take some accoutability for your poor teaching and turn it around instead of moaning about ofsted prove them wrong
take some accoutability for your poor teaching and turn it around instead of moaning about ofsted prove them wrong Major Oxford

1:48pm Fri 27 Apr 12

Red Robbo 2 says...

Well, Major Oxford, school obviously did you a lot of good if you don't know what capital letters and punctuation are!

As usual with OFSTED reports this is a brief snapshot of life in a school. To condemn on the basis of two days in six years does seem a bit harsh but this is the result of a silly system set up by know-all politicians who, if put in front of a class, would not last five minutes.

If you take time to actually read the report, you would find it is quite contradictory in places, with the comments failing to match the scores given, for example, on behaviour.

One thing which stands out in the report is summed up by two sentences:

"There is no deputy headteacher and the senior management team is depleted due to maternity leave. This means the headteacher and Key Stage 2 coordinator are carrying considerable responsibilities."

Is there any wonder schools fail and/or people don't wish to take senior management positions?

Is it therefore correct to condemn the whole school to "special measures" without dealing with these inadequacies first?

Methinks the system is the one failing although the governors have a few questions to answer.
Well, Major Oxford, school obviously did you a lot of good if you don't know what capital letters and punctuation are! As usual with OFSTED reports this is a brief snapshot of life in a school. To condemn on the basis of two days in six years does seem a bit harsh but this is the result of a silly system set up by know-all politicians who, if put in front of a class, would not last five minutes. If you take time to actually read the report, you would find it is quite contradictory in places, with the comments failing to match the scores given, for example, on behaviour. One thing which stands out in the report is summed up by two sentences: "There is no deputy headteacher and the senior management team is depleted due to maternity leave. This means the headteacher and Key Stage 2 coordinator are carrying considerable responsibilities." Is there any wonder schools fail and/or people don't wish to take senior management positions? Is it therefore correct to condemn the whole school to "special measures" without dealing with these inadequacies first? Methinks the system is the one failing although the governors have a few questions to answer. Red Robbo 2

2:14pm Fri 27 Apr 12

John Charles says...

It is the job of the governors to oversee schools to confirm they are properly run. Here the governors have clearly failed and should have the courtesy to resign.
It is the job of the governors to oversee schools to confirm they are properly run. Here the governors have clearly failed and should have the courtesy to resign. John Charles

2:53pm Tue 15 May 12

Madame Cholet says...

This is very sad news for Cumnor School. I know it very well as my sons went there and I lived in the village for 11 years.

I don't think it has helped to have had so many changes in leadership (Mrs Varnom, Mrs Thomas, Mrs Davidson, Mrs Lynch-Bloss, Mrs Broom) all since 1999. This level of senior staff turnover is always a concern.

I hope the Governing body will respond positively, accept the constructive criticism and work hard to turn this around.
This is very sad news for Cumnor School. I know it very well as my sons went there and I lived in the village for 11 years. I don't think it has helped to have had so many changes in leadership (Mrs Varnom, Mrs Thomas, Mrs Davidson, Mrs Lynch-Bloss, Mrs Broom) all since 1999. This level of senior staff turnover is always a concern. I hope the Governing body will respond positively, accept the constructive criticism and work hard to turn this around. Madame Cholet

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