Second primary school on Oxford estate is rated inadequate by education inspectors

Orchard Meadow Primary School, which has more than 400 pupils, has been rated inadequate, with Ofsted inspectors identifying serious weaknesses.

Windale Community Primary School

In March, Windale Community Primary School, also part of the Blackbird Leys Academy Trust, was placed in special measures.

Last night, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for schools improvement Melinda Tilley said she would investigate the possibility of finding new funding for the schools to improve literacy.

Both schools became part of the trust in August 2013, which also manages the estate’s other primary school, Pegasus.

While Pegasus was rated good in July 2013, it has not been inspected since becoming part of the trust, and Ofsted has said from September all good schools could be subject to a one-day inspection to see if they are maintaining their good rating.

Before it became part of the trust, Orchard Meadow had been in special measures since 2012.

Education watchdog Ofsted inspected the Wesley Close school for two days in March and said that pupil achievement was “well below average”.

The report said: “Over time, inadequate teaching has meant that most pupils have not developed their skills in reading, writing and mathematics well enough. Although there have been improvements since September, lesson activities are not always precisely focused on the skills that pupils need to acquire or to practise next.”

The report said that in one lesson pupils could not tell the difference between squares and rectangles.

Only half the boys achieved the Government standard in reading, writing and mathematics, while no girls attained the higher level in writing.

The report emphasised that most staff had only been in their posts for 18 months or less but said senior leaders had demonstrated the “capacity to drive improvement”. It added: “Senior leaders have a realistic understanding of the academy’s performance and know what needs to be done to raise pupils’ achievement.”

Spokesman for the Trust, Ian Caws, said: “We recognise that significant further work is needed to bring about sustained and consistent improvement across all year groups.

“To achieve this, together with the academy senior leadership team, staff and parents, we will build on the strengths and improvements which are emerging at the school.

“We remain totally committed to ensuring the best possible start to their education for all children in the academy across the Leys.”

Emma Bolam’s six-year-old, Alex Bolam-Hussain, is in Year 2 at the school.

The Oxford University scientist, of Spindleberry Close, said: “I’m very disappointed. The trust was supposed to come in and make things better but it doesn’t seem to have made any difference whatsoever.”

Jill Hudson, executive director of the trust, took over as the school’s acting head last October. In February it emerged that all three schools were among six schools in Oxford to drop out of a £505,000 city council-backed KRM three-year reading programme a year before it was due to end.

City council spokesman Chofamba Sithole said there were no plans at present for further investment in such a scheme.

The three schools were not part of the successful Oxford Mail-backed county council reading campaign Project X, which ran in 60 county primary schools from 2012 to 2014, and raised the reading age of children by 13 months in just four months.

County council cabinet member for education Melinda Tilley said: “We don’t have control over academies but I would like to find funding for a reading programme to help the schools that dropped out of the city’s reading programme, and other primary schools in the city.

“There are still seven-year-olds in the city who cannot read.”

Harry and George Dineen, four and three, both go to the nursery at Pegasus.

Their mum Lauraine said she was happy with the school, but admitted the recent Ofsted reports worried her.

The Evenlode Tower resident said: “That’s frightening, it does slightly unnerve me.

Steve Curran

Oxfordshire County councillor for the Leys Steve Curran said: “Ultimately the children of the estate need the highest quality of teaching and stability of staffing.

“I am sure that everyone concerned will be trying their best to ensure this happens and I shall be watching the situation closely to see what can be done about this unacceptable situation.”

Management

THE Blackbird Academy Trust was launched on August 1, 2013 and manages Orchard Meadow Primary School, Windale Community Primary School and Pegasus Primary School.

In total, the trust looks after more than 1,250 pupils and aims to provide more opportunities and improved results for pupils by working together.

The sponsors for the trust are The Dragon School in North Oxford, national charity Family Links, which supports parents and teachers, and The Hamilton Trust, which provides support for raising the educational attainment of pupils.