Bourne Westfield Primary Academy head says ‘we will do better’ after drop in Osted rating
Bourne Westfield Primary Academy New Headteacher Elaine Radley
The headteacher of a school which Ofsted said needs to improve is confident it is on track to return to an outstanding rating.
Inspectors said Bourne Westfield Primary Academy needs to raise the level of pupils’ achievement and improve the quality of teaching, leadership and management.
The behaviour and safety of pupils was classed as good.
The findings were included in a report by Ofsted which has been published following the inspectors’ visit on November 21 and 22.
Headteacher Elaine Radley, who joined the school in September, believes it will be rated as outstanding next time.
She said: “At Bourne Westfield it is going to take very little to put the issues right because the teaching is fantastic and so are the pupils’ attitudes to learning.
“If we are not back to outstanding in two years, which is the next time we can be inspected, I will be very surprised.”
“The team are embracing the challenge at the school.
“The staff are 110 percent behind what we are trying to achieve.”
The school was judged to be outstanding during its previous inspection in 2011.
Since then it has undergone some big changes, becoming an academy on November 1, 2011, replacing numerous staff and employing a new headteacher and deputy.
Mrs Radley has already made changes to the structure of the management team to spread responsibilities.
The Ofsted inspectors acknowledged that pupils’ progress has improved since she arrived. They said the school improvement plan created by Mrs Radley, who is a former Ofsted inspector, is good.
Teachers’ assessments show that some pupils are now making above average levels of progress in English and mathematics.
The report said: “While accelerated progress since September 2012 is serving to redress weaker progress made in recent years, rates are variable across year groups and classes and not yet proven to be good or better over a sustained period.”
The inspectors highlighted strengths including progress made by children in reception and progress by pupils in Years 1 and 2 with reading.
The report said the school provides a wide range of learning experiences, including quality choral singing.
It said pupils enjoy going to school, attend regularly, are well behaved and feel safe at school.
The management of the school site was found to be good.
The report said the level of work reached by learners on leaving the school is too low given their starting points.
It said progress made by pupils who find learning more challenging and those for whom the school receives additional funding is too slow.
Not enough pupils who can learn quickly were found to achieve the higher levels of attainment.
The report also said teachers do not always use information on pupils’ attainment and progress to plan learning that best meets their needs.
It said senior leaders had not focused enough on checking on the quality of teaching so they can improve it.
Middle leaders do not use information about how well pupils are doing in order to improve the teaching in their own subject areas, according to the report.
The inspectors also said governors had not found out how the progress made by pupils compared to similar schools nationally, and thus challenged the school to make improvements.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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