Local secondary rated inadequate by Ofsted, how concerned should I be?

[owlelf]

DC currently at local primary, in reception, happy and making good progress.

Admittedly it is 6 years until he will move to this secondary school but I was really disappointed to read their latest Ofsted report (from Feb 2012). They were rated as inadequate overall (and idadequate in 3 of the 4 report subsections, the other subsection being poor).

The main concerns were some inadequate teaching (e.g. unengaging lessons, insufficient differentiation of work between abilities), above average levels of pupil misbehaviour leading to lesson disruption which was not always well handled by teachers, insufficient marking of work, high truancy and suspension levels within the free school meals category.

This school became an academy a month before its awful Ofsted inspection. It had a new Head 20 months ago, to be fair the tone of the report suggested the new head was aware if the problem issues and was tackling them. It was fairly damning about middle and senior management though.

I know I am naive but it makes me so disappointed and sad to read this assessment of a school- particularly as this is the secondary school that DC will attend (it's very large and takes pupils from several village primaries upto age 16 when they go to another school).

Can anyone give me hope that this is not the 'big deal' that it feels like?

Its almost seven years until your son goes to secondary school. That is plenty of time for a school be turned around. Wait until year 4/5 and if the school hasn't improved then think about moving.

Thanks Really I will Try to calm down!!

I've reread the report and noticed that the school has not been put into special measures, but has been given a notice to improve. I would be interested in finding out how it would avoid special measures despite its awful Ofsted report?

Bump for any further thoughts...

tbh I didn't even think of looking at Ofsted reports until ds was in yr6.

Lots can change in 7 years; the school could improve, you or your dh could be relocated to another area of the country, you could just fancy a change to live in another village, you could (God forbid) get divorced, fall in love with someone who lives 100 miles away and go to live there.......

Honestly, forget secondary schools until 2019!

They will be given lots of LA support, resources and help to improve and inspected again in about a year. If they've not improved at all then they'll probably be put into special measures. If they have improved sufficiently they'll be rated satisfactory.

Flisspaps ONLY if it is not an academy - and nearly half of secondaries are now Academies.

OP
Ofsted reports only have any real impact on the school in the two terms after they are made.
If your DS was in year 6 - THEN you talk to the school.
As he's not, it will all have blown over and the Academy programme probably gone tits up by the time he gets there!

Talkin having read a bit around this I can see that you are right- the 'LA' help for struggling schools doesn't seem to apply to academies. This can't be right surely (I mean I know it is factually right, but not right for the pupils)? I admit I on't know much about this- but having googled it, it would seem neither does anyone else.

It it a horrible irony that the school was made an academy only weeks before its inadequate inspection.

However, I am going to try to stop worrying about this now- as I have been advised several times on this thread that it is far to soon for me to be too concerned. I do feel for the parents of the DC already there though....

Many schools are going down the ratings at the moment because OFSTED criteria for inspection have been massively hoicked up. The expectations are not particularly realistic and IMHO it it the government's way of ensuring that all schools become academies (because they will be forced to if they are failing).

And in six years, who knows what state the education system will be in!

That is interesting tinuviel- why does the government want to force all failing schools to become academies (apologies if that is a silly question)?

Is there anything that anyone can point me towards which will explain all this stuff (DS' Primary is moving towards academy status, and nothing has been explained other than that the LA can no longer provide the level of funding that it has in the past).

I wish it sounded as though this schools Ofsted rating was lined to 'hoiked' up targets. However, as they have stated that there is a high level of serious class disruption by pupils and low teaching standards I think it sounds genuinely dire!

owlelf
conversion to academies = to emasculate LEAs : a process started by Maggie with ILEA a very long time ago.

once academies, hand them to sponsors who funnily enough are often Tory donors out to extract profits from the education budget

if not sponsored, then get OFSTED to fail them and THEN hand then to sponsors

and looking at how secondary academies are going over the last couple of terms the heads are either turning into bullying tyrants or utterly floundering so for OFSTED to slap them for poor leadership (they are Headteachers FFS, not entrepeneurs) and then force conversion will be a given

BUT
There are sponsored academies that Ofsted is very unhappy with and the Dfe has no firkin clue what to do about them - they are "independent" so cannot be forced.
I can see the whole thing unravelling in a rather spectacular manner within three years - just as my kids hit exams. Great.

Oh joy. Ronald Macdonald will provide logo enhanced text books and our children can get A starred McGCSEs in burgerology. This insatiable desire to privatise everything is so antisocial.

I was told to really start worrying if one of the multi academy chain groups came over the horizon to rescue the school ... read downgrading of GCSE courses to BTEC equivalents, experienced staff out to be replaced by newly qualified and high pay increases for the SLT, reductions for all others.

School performance stagnates, followed by poor ofsted reports.

In the meantime the chain PR machines churn out 'positive' news to the media and parents.

Who do you believe, the trouble is we don't want our children to suffer in the process of finding out.

Early days EvilTwins, wait until the second year :)

It all sounds like a complete catastrophe.

I would love to find out more about this but only seem to find vague statements from the government and schools insisting this is the way forward.

Whereas the predominant view on Mumsnet is that academies are a bad thing (and I trust mumsnet's views).

What I can't understand is why are school governors choosing to convert to academies if it is such a bad move?

All our school (large semi- rural primary, good Ofsted) had told us parents so far is that the LA will no longer be providing the generous funding that they have in the past, so moving towards an Academy is the next step.

owlelf
you have been misinformed.
When a school converts to Academy status it is given ITS share of the LEA budget to spend as it wishes.
Which initially looks like a nice wodge of cash
BUT
either the school has to buy the valid services back in from the LEA or from a profit making company
OR
it muddles through and buys new carpets for the Head's office with the money.

Oasis have already been ticked off for an excess of SMT salaries versus Teachers, and funny how Academies seem to only hire (cheap) NQTs rather than (expensive) experienced teachers.
Cutting corners leaves more money for the SMT. Its a recipe for disaster.