Schools in dorney

[divshere]

Hi, I am new to this group. We are moving to South Bucks, Dorney Reach as both me and my husband have found new jobs closer to Dorney. We really like the area around Dorney reach but my concern is about the primary school in the catchment area which is Dorney school. My LO will start school in 2 years time and school is a priority for us. Dorney school is a stone's throw away from the property we have given offer on however the school is under special measures now. It had a good rating but after the 2015 offsted inspection its has gone down to be Inadequate. Can someone comment on this school please. Is the staff all good there?

[bojorojo]

I think the Ofsted report of last summer shows a serious decline in the school. If you look on the school's website, you can see the two monitoring reports conducted by HMI of Schools/Ofsted since the inspection. They are vital reading. These reports are very detailed and give you very good insight to the improvements that have been made and what still needs to be done. The later of the two reports is May 2016 so it is very recent.

It seems to me that the school got into such a bad position, the way back was going to be a major challenge. There are clearly still some problems with teaching in some year groups and you need to make a judgement about whether you think the school can improve before your DC starts. Reception has been consistently praised but Y1 less so. There is a problem that teachers have been poor at assessing progress so lessons are not targeted appropriately and this slows down progress of the children. As a governor, I would be concerned that the head is not providing enough information to the governors so they can monitor the progress the children are making. Bucks has templates for this, so I cannot see what the excuse is.

If you have set your heart on this house, I would not lose faith just yet. With the huge amount of input this school is getting, it should improve. There are obviously better schools but if you are not in catchment you may well not get a place. You could speak to Bucks CC School Admissions to see where else may take children from Dorney. I think schools like St Nicholas, Taplow are more reliable!

You could also visit Dorney. Behaviour was an issue for Ofsted and you could see what you think. Are all the children purposefully engaged? Do read the latest monitoring visit report though. It is a key document.

[divshere]

Thank you for the explanation. St Nicholas, Taplow has confirmed that this area does not fall under the school's catchment area.