Would you send your child to an ‘Inadequate’ school?

[RubyIsANewBEE]

I was shocked to see this is what they’re rated by OFSTED.

Their website had a really good feel to it! And I was impressed. Because let’s be honest, first impressions count.

I am going to have a look with another Mum on Tuesday. I was shocked to see it’s about the same school

Would you chance it if you liked the look of the school and were happy with what you saw in person?

Okay, it doesn’t prove anything, but other school websites that are somewhat local look a bit rubbish! And their words didn’t impress me. Speaking to a few parents who have children at these schools I’m not impressed by initially, they aren’t happy with that school either so maybe the ‘Inadequate’ school will work?

DD2 has a big sister in a special needs school so I don’t have any experience of mainstream.

If they just weren't ticking ofsted boxes then I would say see how it feels. That's not the case here, the behaviour is so bad that the kids don't feel safe and the teachers don't seem to be able to do anything about it - and the kids have learnt just to accept that. I wouldn't let mine anywhere near that school, the website is neither here nor there. I would much rather time and money were spent on other things than what is basically marketing.

Is this the ofsted?

Yes. OFSTED is a snapshot in time.

https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/109477
This one?

That’s it. It hasn’t actually closed though, just to be clear

When a school is taken over by an academy, I thought they had to have academy in their new name? I remember a —very tough and ready— senior school closing when I was a teenager and remember their name changing too to ‘academy’

Honestly, it's pretty damning. And behaviour is hard to turn around. They have gone for an unnecessarily posh uniform too.

We have an inadequate school locally. It was already an academy, so no hiding behind academisation. But they do have the guts to put information on the website about how they are turning it around. But my children still won't be going there as one wouldn't tolerate the poor behaviour and the other wouldn't get any work done because of it.

I don’t know a better word for it but that strikes me as sneaky then? If other schools can be honest about turning themselves around. There isn’t even a whiff of having Inadequate ratings on their website, from what I can see anyway. And their OFSTED was hard to find on there too

The uniform looks pretty standard though! Not sure why you’re the second person to say it’s posh. Red and blue clash!

No, because being really blunt, most parents that care about education are generally the ones that raise their kids to not be disruptive and to respect their education, and likely wouldn't send their kids to an inadequate school so you're more likely going to have a challenging cohort. On top of whatever else is going on to make it inadequate.

Most state primaries don't have a stripe on their jumpers/cardigans and don't wear ties.

New school. The ofsted is from the closed down school, and from 2-3 years ago.

It's clearly under the Advantage Schools trust, I'd look into them.

I wouldn't be put off by this OFSTED tbh it's utterly useless. I'd want to know more about the trust running the school now though.

I don't think it's exactly sneaky as it is legitimately a different school, legally speaking. But I think it would do better with an honest explanation and a clear action plan, rather than letting people dig stuff up and allowing local gossip to hold the narrative.

For example, it's the same head as named on the old ofsted report. Is that because he arrived weeks before ofsted and hadn't had time to turn it around or had he been there for 3 years before that and was blind to the issues? You can't tell, but better PR would have an explanation.

Can I ask though, surely again this is dependent on pupils? If there’s someone throwing furniture around in the Class of 2023 start, why would that mean a child throwing furniture would be in Class of 2025/6 start etc?
No, a lot can be done to stop a child from getting to that point (like adequate in-class support, safe spaces, a way to deal with building anger before it escalates) and then it all depends on how you deal with it if it does happen.
I work secondary, and in one memorable case had to regularly evacuate the classroom for up to 30mins before someone turned up to support the emergency call. No wonder the kids didn't feel safe - I didn't, either, and no in-class support was given to this child whose parent was desperate for a special school place.
So it all depends on how that school manages it. Badly, by the sound of it.

I thought the general out of control behaviour was only getting worse absolutely everywhere in the country now, across all schools? For a number of reasons, but largely due to lack of special needs support and schools being strapped for cash
That and schools that will not consistently deal with behaviour, allowing it to get worse and to escalate. Here's a timely BBC report on a secondary school: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gxdkq51ywo
Think of the manner in which behaviour is dealt with in that school what you will, but it is having a positive impact. Schools which fully buy into the current restorative "when the adult changes the child changes" stuff fare far worse.

I thought schools taken over by Academies were given better funding, but again I am actually thinking of senior schools
I have never heard of a primary school being taken as part of an Academy (again though, I am not in the know about any of this! My DD1 started age 3.5 and won’t leave until she’s 19).
Depends on the trust. I have worked for a few which had a flagship school that got all the funding and the rest of the schools got mere crumbs. Or some that deliberately created a sink school to make the rest look better. Some trusts do get the distrubution stuff right, but they don't get more funding - it all depends on bums on seats and number of disadvantaged and SEND students.

It has been taken over by a multi-academy trust since the last ofsted. It must have been pretty bad to get inadequate. Look at the school and decide how you feel. I note that the MAT doesn’t appear to have many primary schools - it’s mostly secondary. It’s worth reading the ofsted reports of the other schools in the MAT to see if they have been turned around.

At rhe end of the day, if it’s primary and you’re a well-educated parent you can fill in the educational gaps. If it’s behaviour/bullying that is the problem I would avoid.

I've taught in every type at secondary. One school managed to hit every label over the time I was there. Currently in a 'good' one, but aware we could drop to RI in the blink of an eye or poor set of results.

Dc are in a school that is currently celebrating not being as shit their last Estyn. We've given them the option to move to a better school, but they're happy enough there. And I've learned over the years that as long as they get enough gcses to get onto the A Level courses they want (or Btecs), I shouldn't stress.

I started this whole parenting thing expecting that my dc would be academic, like me, and would be desperate to be the best at everything. Turns out they're more like their dad and I have had to adjust my expectations accordingly. 😁

Here's some info about the results at that school

https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/109477/laburnum-primary-school/primary

Only 28% of last year's Y6 met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared to 62% national average and the reading and maths scores are below average too.

This is very poor and I would certainly have concerns about how much my child would actually learn at that school.

I would visit but this school has behaviour problems. I would ask how it is being addressed and go from there. If the problem has been fixed since the inspection I would give it a chance However if there is still widespread disruptive behaviour I would definitely avoid it.

My DCs junior school got RI because they didn't follow a SSP (phonics program). They were a junior school, so 99% of the kids were past the phonics stage, and there was no infant feeder school so the kids joining had all been taught using different SSPs.
It was just Ofsted batshittery!

Visit the school, and see what you think.

This is area dependent. This is a standard uniform for schools where I live, particularly at junior age. Presumably it's the same where OP lives.

When a school has had a terrible Ofsted, it can be hard to turn it around, in part because the middle classes fight hard to avoid the school. This means the school ends up with a higher number of transient families (lots of places so anyone who moves to the area is offered a place there but they often try to move on if a 'better' place comes up) and families who are less focused on their child's education (so aren't reading Ofsted reports etc). This makes it tougher to turn things around. I therefore want to say 'support your local school, support will be put in place, it's probably already loads better.' However... that's a pretty awful report. None of the areas are 'good' and children don't feel safe. That's not what I want for my child.

If you do consider it, ask them lots of questions about their behaviour policy. Hopefully they will have implemented a better one by now, but I would want to know it is making a difference.

There will be lots of posters along to say that Ofsted is rubbish and inadequate schools are actually outstanding etc. However, the reality is that it is very difficult for a school to be rated inadequate unless there are serious issues.

The other problem is that inadequate/requires improvement schools often get ‘stuck’. I’m not sure where the idea that inadequate schools suddenly magically improve comes from. There are schools which have never been better than inadequate/requires improvement.

That said, there are occasional situations where schools quickly get better. However, that’s usually due to a new brilliant headteacher, so I’d be concerned that the head in this case is the same (unless they’d hardly been in post at the time of the previous inspection).

The other problem is that inadequate/requires improvement schools often get ‘stuck’. I’m not sure where the idea that inadequate schools suddenly magically improve comes from. There are schools which have never been better than inadequate/requires improvement.

People usually say "oh well they'll get all the help now" but in reality the hands on parents will likely not send their kids there and it'll be very difficult to turn a school around with a disproportionately challenging cohort, even the best schools with the best teachers and policies would struggle. The schools in my town that have been inadequate/requires improvement have been that way for a very long time.

It's because it becones a vicious cycle on so many levels.

Inadequate = more pressure and inspections = the staff who can leave (i.e. the decent ones), will leave

More staff leaving = more supply = less consistency = more disruption and behaviour problems

More behaviour problems = more staff leaving AND

More behaviour problems = fewer students enrolled = less funding to turn things around

The website is poor because it tells you nothing I’d any use. It says that there is no Ofsted report, since the school became an academy and the last report was over two years ago, so there must have been at least, a monitoring visit since then.

I should imagine that the SLT are new since academisation and that the main aspect of the inadequate Ofsted, pupil safety, is being addressed.

OP if you’re visiting again, see whether you feel that there is significant poor behaviour and disruption. If things are calm, then the major reason for the inadequate has been addressed.

Not really, because their results are still terrible.

There won’t be a report as it is technically a new school and these aren’t inspected for 3 years after opening.

The circumstances of this specific school actually seem quite strange. Before the last inspection, it was previously good since at least 2007 (albeit it seems to have only been an infant school).

It may be that the approach used at KS1 has not translated well as the school has grown to incorporate KS2.

However, the level of poor behaviour described in the latest report is very rare and almost unheard of for a primary school. To have a situation where the school cannot keep students safe due to poor behaviour indicates that the school was totally out of control.