Wednesday 3 December 2014

New Town Primary School Ofsted report published


New Town Primary School Ofsted Report Published

03/12/2014
Reading Borough Council Press Release
NEW Town Primary School is working closely with Reading Borough Council to address the issues raised in a recent Ofsted inspection.
The East Reading school was judged as inadequate after an inspection in October and has been placed in special measures. Concerns were raised about the gap in attainment between groups of pupils that is not closing rapidly enough, teachers’ expectations of pupils being too low and governors not holding the school’s leaders to account over the standard of teaching.

Ofsted found that pupils’ behaviour was inadequate and that “attitudes to learning are not well established” although the children were commended for playing and working together amicably.

Inspectors reported that “the curriculum meets the needs of pupils and contributes adequately to their social, moral, spiritual and cultural development”, but teaching was found to be “not always appropriately challenging.”

New Town Primary will now work on improving teaching and learning, pupil progress and behaviour, and leadership, management and governance of the school. It is being assisted by Reading Borough Council through additional resources to support the school from its advisory teams and from other good and outstanding Reading schools.

The inspectors, who observed 17 lessons and held talks with staff, governors, pupils and parents, did also pinpoint a number of strengths.

The report highlighted how the newly appointed executive headteacher and the head of school have worked together on analysing and identifying what needs to be done to raise standards. Staff were found to be supportive of the “renewed drive to improve the school”. Inspectors noted that behaviour is “showing signs of improvement” after the “important changes … that have been made” by the school.

Reception and Nursery teachers were also commended on a recently renewed emphasis on the developing children’s communication and speaking skills.
Mrs Angharad Brackstone, Executive Head Teacher said:

“The findings reflect the challenging journey the school has been on, but recognise that the school is now in a much stronger position to move forward and make improvements. It recognises the positive change in Leadership which took place recently which means the school is now correctly identifying the key issues, and addressing these rigorously.”

Malcolm Morrison, Chair of Governors added:

“The school has been through a number of important changes over the past year. The governors are confident that the plans for future improvement are soundly-based and will be effective in raising standards.”

Lead Member for Education, Cllr John Ennis said:

“At a time when 80% of Reading schools under Local Authority control are now rated as being good or outstanding – a figure that tallies with the national average – this report is obviously disappointing.

“We are committed to driving up standards in education for all children across the Borough, which is why we will be working with New Town Primary to implement a comprehensive range of actions to improve performance.

“We will be closely monitoring progress to help turn the school around.”



ENDS

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