Leaders vow to move school forward following Ofsted report

LEADERS at Dilton Marsh Primary School are reassuring parents that the school will work to progress and move the school forward following a ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted report. 

Ofsted has put their confidence in the leaders and the school has stated that on Ofsted’s return in two years, they will achieve at least a good rating. 

Following the news that the school had received a ‘requires improvement’ report for the overall effectiveness of the school, a parent contacted White Horse News claiming that the school has gone ‘down hill’ and the communication between parents and teachers was poor, which led them to remove their child from the school. 

However, despite Ofsted saying the school needs to ‘prepare pupils better for life in the modern world’ the report also states that the arrangements for safeguarding are effective, children arrive at school ready to learn, the school is a happy place, leaders are aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and their plans focus on the right things. 

The school said, “We felt that the inspection team were fair. Ofsted agreed with our judgement of the strengths and areas for development that have been identified in the school development plan. 

“The inspection was conducted under a new, more challenging framework which was introduced in September. The focus has moved from the core areas of maths and English to the whole curriculum, ensuring that what is offered to children is broad and balanced.

“As you will see from the report, our overall effectiveness has been graded as ‘requires improvement.’ Progress has been made, but there is still much to do. Ofsted has confidence in leaders to move the school forward.

“We are really pleased that the report recognises the effort that the whole school community makes in ensuring that the children have a positive learning experience. Ofsted stated the following; ‘They feel safe in school.’‘Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good.’‘…the school is a happy place.’

“The development of the academy council started in September and is on-going.  Our two recently-appointed co-chairs, Joey Durham and Melinda Graves, will be working with the school leadership and trustees of Acorn to strengthen governance. 

“Training has begun and more is planned for this academic year.  The focus will be on academy council members holding leaders to account, in order to raise standards.

“Developing our curriculum, making it more sequential and enabling children to remember more will continue to be a focus.  We have made a good start with science and geography and we will ensure that the teaching and monitoring of these subjects is consistently strong, before moving on to other areas. 

“Over recent months there has been a real push on reading, particularly in Early Years and KS1.  There is recognition of this in the report. We now need to continue this drive through KS2.

“The final area for improvement focuses on explicit and age appropriate teaching of British values.  We are developing the PSHE curriculum so that children are encouraged to think more deeply.  As a result, children will be better prepared for their next step in education and life in modern Britain. This includes knowing more about the world and events outside of their immediate environment.  

“Ofsted will return in 2 years to conduct a review and we are confident that Dilton Marsh will achieve at least a ‘Good’ grading in all areas.”