Shropshire Star

Inspectors downgrade school but praise 'rapid improvements' under acting head

A primary school has been told it ‘requires improvement’ after being visited by Ofsted inspectors – although 'rapid improvements' by its 'inspirational' acting headteacher have been praised.

Published
Last updated
Pupils at Sheriffhales Primary School celebrating the Coronation.

An inspection of Sheriffhales Primary School was carried out in March when the inspectors Mark Sims and Susan Ray found that overall effectiveness at the school ‘requires improvement’.

The school, which has 86 pupils aged between five and 11 years old, received a ‘good’ grade during the last inspection in 2017.

The three areas found to ‘require improvement’ were the quality of education, personal development, and leadership and management.

Meanwhile, the early provision of the school was found to be ‘inadequate’, but the behaviour and attitudes of children was noted to be ‘good’.

Ofsted inspectors found that pupils ‘love coming to school’ and children said that art was their favourite subject.

The report commented that the ‘substantive headteacher’ has been absent for ‘much of the time’ since February last year. The current ‘acting headteacher’ has been in the post since October last year.

The inspection said that there had been ‘rapid improvements’ since the ‘inspirational’ acting headteacher started her post in the autumn term.

“Outcomes in all year groups in writing are improving quickly from a very low base,” the Ofsted report states. “This is because of the leaders’ high ambitions.

“In their short time in post, they have made significant progress towards addressing identified shortcomings in planning the curriculum.

“A sequenced programme of study is now in place, covering a full range of subjects. Some plans have been very recently implemented. There are strengths in the curriculum provision for music and PE, where teachers benefit and learn from specialists.”

The inspectors added that the school’s senior leaders recognised that the provision in early years is ‘weak’ and as a result it said that children ‘do not get off to the best possible start’.

The report added: “They have made a start in making changes to address this, such as providing access to activities outside.

“However, not enough has been done to address shortfalls. Leaders have started to make better use of children’s responses to learning, to plan what to teach next.”

The report also said that the quality of support for pupils with special educational needs and other pupils that need to catch up is ‘variable and not consistently effective’.

The school’s leadership was criticised by the Ofsted inspectors for not ‘doing enough to help pupils recognise and understand fundamental British values’.

Responding to the findings, acting head, Justine Keeling-Paglia, said they were pleased that inspectors had recognised the school's progress, and added that it is "definitely a school 'on the up'".

She said: "Sheriffhales is a delightful little school, at the heart of its community – our recent inspection highlighted that the children are safe, happy and eager to learn from their dedicated staff team.

"The inspectors were quick to recognise the significant and rapid improvements which have taken place and we are very confident in achieving a 'good' status at the next inspection.

"We are definitely a school 'on the up', with more and more children joining and thriving in our Sheriffhales family: all our staff and governors are committed to giving an excellent education to our children."

Story by Local Democracy Reporter Ben Goddard