Primaries making progress to leave special measures, says Ofsted (From Witney Gazette)

Primaries making progress to leave special measures, says Ofsted

3:50pm Tuesday 11th September 2012 in News By Fran Bardsley, covering Education, East Oxford and Cowley. Call me on 01865 425439

TWO Oxfordshire primary schools that went into special measures in February have had their first monitoring visits from government school inspectors Ofsted.

And both Cumnor Primary School and Eynsham Primary School have been told they are making satisfactory progress.

Inspector Daniel Towl said pupils’ achievements at Cumnor were improving at Key Stages One and Two, and pointed to improvements in marking and the assessment of pupils’ progress.

He said the school was successful in supporting those most at risk of falling behind. Acting headteachers Pauline Roberts and Rob Shadbolt had shown “excellent leadership” since being appointed in April.

But he said: “Pupils’ progress is not consistent enough and reflects the variation in the quality of teaching over time across the school.”

Ms Roberts said the school was “back on track” and Key Stage Two results, which will be published later this term, would show all children achieved the expected Level Four in both English and maths, with 41 per cent achieving the higher Level Five.

She said: “The inspectors made positive comments about our progress in every area.

“We appreciate that this progress needs to be sustained and embedded, but the path ahead is much clearer.”

Eynsham Primary School was told it was making improvements in pupils’ progress, with a new approach to teaching phonics quickly implemented.

Inspector Ann Henderson described the pace of learning as swift and said: “Expectations have clearly been raised and improvements to the learning environment, which include well-organised displays of pupils’ work and information walls to support learning, are welcomed by pupils.

“Although much is still to be done to accelerate pupils’ progress by maintaining the focus on improving the quality of teaching, there is clear evidence to suggest that the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection are being tackled rigorously.”

Both schools were inspected in mid-July but the reports have only just been made public.

Eynsham headteacher Zena Vass was on long-term sick leave when inspectors visited in July. It is understood she returned to school last week but was unavailable for comment.