HEAD DEFENDS SCHOOLS OVER DISAPPOINTING INSPECTIONS
Ofsted ‘keeps changing goalposts’ Diversity at the
A MAIDSTONE head teacher has defended the standard of local primary schools after a series of Ofsted reports demanded im- provements. West Borough, which has been led since
2006 by Ashley Crittenden, is one of 11 pri- mary schools in the Maidstone area in- spected since September 2012 given a rating of three, where the school “requires im- provement”. The results coincide with Ofsted chang-
ing the definition of the rating from “satis- factory”. Now, schools that get a rating of three re-
ceive a monitoring visit within twomonths of the report, to ensure that the Government watchdog’s recommendations are taken on board. A three rating also puts pressure on some schools to become academies. Mrs Crittenden said: “It is important to
make clear what a three means. It means a school is not inadequate and not failing. It makes it very, very clear that a school re- quiring improvement is not yet good, but not failing. It is crucial to remember that.” Mrs Crittenden says schools face the chal-
lenge of meeting Ofsted targets that change regularly. Since she has been in charge at West Borough, the school has had three in- spections – in 2008, 2011 and 2013 – under three different frameworks. “The goalposts have moved,” she said. Ofsted now bases judgments on four cate- gories: achievement of pupils; quality of teaching; behaviour and safety of pupils; leadership and management. West Borough, which is located in Green-
way, Maidstone, received ratings of two – “good” – in the latter two categories, but were said to require improvement in achievement of pupils and quality of teach- ing, which brought down the overall rating. Mrs Crittenden said: “Ofsted recognised that we know our schoolwell, because areas
Ofsted ratings 1 = Outstanding 2 = Good 3 = Requires improvement 4 = Inadequate
they pointed out to us we already knew through our own self-evaluation. “The fact we got a two in leadership and management says that as a school we know our strengths and where areas of improve- ment can be made. “We have a good capacity to improve, and
we had improved since the previous in- spection. “For schools to get a good rating, pupils
have to do better than the national expecta- tions, but if everybody did that then what becomes average? It doesn’t make sense.” Primary schools that get a good in pupil achievement are expected to better the na- tional average of 79% reaching level 4 by
heart of school WEST Borough is one of Maid- stone’s most ethnically diverse schools. More than 20 of the 397 pupils
onthe school role speak English as an additional language. Primary languages include Turkish, Latvian, Nepali, French, German, Malay- alam and Pilipino. “Thedifficulty is thatsomeof our
pupils started in the juniors and didn’t do their Key Stage 1 SATS, which is a point we can measure progress from,” said head teacher Ashley Crittenden (pictured).
year 6 over three consecutive years. In 2012, West Borough achieved 80%, up almost 20% from the previous year, but despite this, the school didn’t have a chance of get- ting a good at this year’s inspection. “There were 35 bullet points in the report
and only seven of them didn’t say some- thing positive,” Mrs Crittenden added. “I have not had a single parent come to
me after seeing this report and ask what is going on at the school, because we commu- nicate fully with our parents.” West Borough is working with a host of
other local schools and educational estab- lishments, such as Brunswick House, Alling- ton, Palace Wood, St Michael’s, Barming, St Francis and Bower Grove Special School, to share ideas on improving the schools. “Both Ofsted andwe in our ownmonitor-
ing concluded that there was evidence of outstanding teaching in early years and year 6, but if pupil achievement requires im- provement then Ofsted will automatically put the same about the quality of teaching.”
Improvements fail
Park Way school head Karen
Dhanecha with deputy head Denise Hill and some of the pupils
Primary education based on the ‘three Rs’
PARK Way Primary School is in a similar situation to West Borough, with an Ofsted report claiming it required improvement due to the achievement of pupils and qual- ity of teaching. LikeWest Borough, the primary school re- ceived good ratings in behaviour of pupils and leadership, but fell down as it had not shown a three-year improvement in results. Park Way’s ethos is “Respect, Responsi-
bility and Resilience” and aims to help pupils in the following ways: worry box: pupils can register any con- cerns and then receive help and advice
30 Town
from a member of staff; pictures around the school of pupils with 100% attendance and of those awarded home learner of the week, writer of the week and reader of the week; golden behaviour book; anti-bullying posters; class rules; a four-zone playground: purple zone (quiet area); blue zone (skipping area); green zone (Lego-playing, creativity); red zone (ball games including basketball); dress-up days: on special occasions such as St George’s Day.
to push up rating EAST Borough Primary School achieved a “good” grade in two out of four cate- gories following its latest Ofsted inspec- tion but gained a grade three overall so requires improvement. The school, in Vinters Road, achieved good grades for leadership and manage- ment and for the behaviour and safety of pupils but the quality of teaching and achievement of pupils were graded three. Inspectors recognised improvements were being made in the teaching of Eng- lish and maths, but said it could not attain a good, particularly in writing skills and vocabulary. The report said the “strong leadership team” was well supported by the governing body. Inspectors said: “They have overcome staffing difficulties and improved the quality of teaching.” Attainment by the end of Year 2 is above average at East Borough; pupils have a good attitude to learning, are well be- haved, polite, and feel safe. Head teacher Janet Herbert said: “It is frustrating that historical information has held us back in terms of the overall assessment. “We are confident that next time, with the old data having disappeared, we will be able to show where the school really is at. Our aim is to consolidate the good teaching that exists and continuously im- prove it to an outstanding level.”
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