A SCHOOL issued with a ‘notice to improve’ by education watchdog Ofsted in March has been rated as ‘satisfactory’ after its first monitoring inspection.
Senior staff at West Kidlington Primary School raised concerns about a new Ofsted framework after the school was rated inadequate for failing to meet Government regulations for safeguarding children.
This related to an incomplete record of Criminal Record Bureau checks held at the school, even though all the teachers had passed, except for one whose form had not been received by the CRB and was being resubmitted.
They also queried how consistent such inspections were when the attached nursery – in the same buildings, with the same governors and headteacher – received a ‘good’ report.
Headteacher Eugene Symonds said: “We are very pleased becau-se it was a very positive day and we are encouraged by the high level of praise in the report.”
In the report, inspector Graham Lee said the care and welfare of children was of “central importance” to people at the school, and pupils felt extremely safe.
He said urgent attention to the safeguarding issues identified meant that arrangements were now “robust”.
Other areas for improvement mentioned in March included improving teaching and learning so pupils made consistently good progress, and leaders’ ability to raise standards.
Mr Lee reported pupils’ progress was improving as a result of a major focus on writing, and that new assessment systems were more firmly embedded.
He said: “Governors are becoming much more involved in holding leaders to account for the school’s performance as well as supporting them.
“As a result, leaders and governors now have a realistic and accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, indicative of an improving capacity to continue improving.”
Due to the way Ofsted works, the school will have to wait for a full inspection, not likely to take place until December at the earliest, before it has a chance to be taken out of the notice to improve.
Mr Symonds said: “The whole school community has taken initiative to address issues raised by the inspection.
“We have always worked very hard to meet children’s needs and it is heartening to get this kind of validation.”
He added: “The parents have been fantastic and have written some really lovely letters about what this school does, and the bureaucratic nature of the difficulty identified by Ofsted has been recognised by most parents.
“West Kidlington is not alone in having to deal with new expectations from the framework, and we will adjust to what they are asking us to do – then they will probably change it again.”
He said he looked forward to Ofsted’s full inspection, when he was confident inspectors would find the school no longer required a notice to improve.
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