A primary school rated as ‘Inadequate’ last year remains in special measures after a visit by an Ofsted inspector. Willow Park CofE Primary School was visited by His Majesty’s Inspector Jason Edge on January 7 and 8, the school’s first inspection since being rated the lowest grade by Ofsted.
The primary school, on Park Lane near the city centre, was placed into special measures in March 2024 after pupils were left with ‘significant gaps’ in their learning. The school, one of two which were given the ‘Inadequate’ rating last year, was due to be inspected again because of the ‘Inadequate’ rating received.
The purpose of a monitoring visit is not to grade the school’s key judgments, like in a graded inspection, but rather to report on a school’s progress since the last inspection. Unlike most inspections, where a report is generated, the findings are put into a letter which is then published on Ofsted’s website.
The letter was addressed to the interim headteacher, Ruth Liang. The inspector’s finding was that ‘leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is necessary for the school to no longer be judged as requiring special measures’, adding that the school ‘may not appoint early career teachers’ at this time. Willow Park CofE Primary was approached for comment.
“Published outcomes for key stage two… were weak”
The letter said: “Since the last inspection, some staff have left and the number of pupils on roll has fallen sharply. The school has been restructured into three mixed-age classes. In July 2024, the local authority commissioned the support of LEAF multi-academy trust, which provided leadership capacity through your role as interim headteacher.
“Published outcomes for key stage two in 2024 were weak. This reflected the inadequacies in the curriculum and pupils’ learning over the long term.”
Since the interim headteacher was appointed, progress has been made in re-establishing the school’s vision which has refocused staff, pupils and governors on the core aims of the school. Pupils’ work and achievements are “now celebrated regularly” and a sense of community has developed within the school, Ofsted found.
The English and mathematics curriculums have been prioritised for improvements and the learning of phonics is now implemented in line with expectations. However, “pupils still have significant gaps in their knowledge”, whilst pupils are getting support, “there is still much more to do to help pupils catch up”. Other subjects in the curriculum, such as science and history, are being developed and knowledge pupils need to know, but “it is too soon to see the impact of these on pupils’ learning”.
The letter said: “There are green shoots of success in the implementation of the curriculum. Pupils recap on their previous learning more regularly, this is helping teachers understand how well pupils are learning over the long term. However, inconsistencies in implementation remain and some staff need further support in developing their subject knowledge in the concepts they teach.
“There is now a clearer approach to inducting pupils who arrive at the school mid-year who speak English as an additional language. The school checks quickly what they can do, they are given intensive support for reading and these pupils are learning the phonics code quickly, helping them to access other parts of the wider curriculum.”
“The school has raised its expectations of how pupils should behave”
The letter added that pupils’ behaviour had improved, saying: “Pupils’ behaviour has improved rapidly. This is because the school has raised its expectations of how pupils should behave both in the classroom and on the playground. Pupils rightly say that there is much less low-level disruption in lessons. Pupils now show positive attitudes to learning.”
Willow Park’s planning has been a key factor in the changes at the school and governors of the school appreciate the support they’ve had from the trust. Action plans are broken down into small steps which has helped the leadership team to have an accurate view of the school.
Staff feel there is clarity in the direction of the school, which manages staff workload well. The school has “embraced” help received from the trust since the last inspection.