Example press release 2 - school standards going up - progress made to move forward after special measures
Staff and pupils at a Burntwood school are looking forward to a bright future after education inspectors found standards have rocketed since their last two visits.
The latest Ofsted inspection at Springhill Primary School showed that attainment and standards have improved since inspections in 2004 and 2006, despite the long term absence of a number of full time staff.
In 2004, the Mossbank Avenue school was placed in special measures but in 2006 inspectors praised staff and pupils’ progress, despite the long term absence of several full time staff. At that time inspectors encouraged the school to continue in this vein, giving them “notice to improve”.
And improve is what they did, thanks to the dedication of staff and a helping hand from education officers at Staffordshire County Council. Headteacher Bob Cadman, who took up the post in April last year, was pleased by the inspectors’ commenting: “The headteacher’s unswerving commitment to improving the quality of education, which he has managed with good humour and great skill, has rallied the staff and given the school a new sense of purpose.”
During their visit to the school in June, inspectors praised a number of areas, including:
· An improved sense of teamwork with staff keen to take on new responsibilities
· Better checking of pupils’ work
· Their finding that pupils work hard, complete an impressive amount of work during the year, and make good progress
· Significant improvements in elements of pupils’ achievement, the curriculum, and care, guidance and support for pupils
· Consistently good teaching in a number of classes which enables pupils to make good progress
· Topic work and interesting whole school projects, such as the recent Monet day, are improving pupils’ motivation and enjoyment
· A new emphasis on learning letter sounds In the foundation Stage which is proving very effective
However, the school is still committed to tackling several other areas which inspectors felt could be improved, for example:
· ensuring teaching in all classes is as good as the best and that work is set at the right level
· helping pupils improve the accuracy of their writing
· improving the outdoor facilities for reception children and provide more exciting opportunities to learn outdoors
Bob said the school’s grading of “satisfactory with significant elements of good in each aspect” reflects a combined effort by staff, pupils and the county council to improve standards. He said: “We’re not sitting back and breathing easy by any stretch, but we are pleased with their findings. The school has come a long way since being placed in special measures and it is important to recognise the contribution everyone has made towards that.”
The inspection report says: “The renewed sense of commitment amongst the staff has improved the ethos and resulted in a more settled and more vibrant learning environment within the school. The standard of behaviour has improved, and pupils’ personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school and get on well with each other and their teachers. They participate well in lessons and the older pupils enjoy carrying out responsibilities. With their good social development, their increasing independence and improving literacy and numeracy skills, the pupils are satisfactorily prepared for the next stage of their education. The leaders have shown that there is good capacity for further improvement.”
County Councillor Tony Wilkins, Cabinet Support Member for Schools, said: “There’s still work to be done but the school rightly deserves praise. Staffordshire County Council will continue to work closely with the school to address the other areas for improvement raised by the inspectors.”
ends