Damning Ofsted Report

[Nads320]

My DS is year 5 and we were advised to go to secondary school open days last year just to get an idea and shortlist a few in preparation for visiting them again in year 6.

The school that we are quite keen on did really well in achieving 84% A-C grades in GCSES with particular strengths in English and Maths. We literally back on to the school so see the kids coming and going on a regular basis and quite like the fact that the boys seem to be generally well behaved and that it is ethnically diverse.

The school has just had an Ofsted report published and quite frankly I'm totally shocked. It has been rated as requiring improvement with behaviour and leadership being the main issues. Im completely at a loss now as to what to do as we were basically guaranteed a place because of location. I cant quite get my head around how there can be such a disparity between what the school archives academically and the Ofsted report. Thoughts please

The academic results are largely due to the profile of the intake. It's likely that the intake comes mainly from educated middle class families. If you go on the DofE website it splits the students into high/medium/low achievers on entry to the school. My guess is that you will find that this school has a large proportion of high achievers.

That said, I think you need to take Ofsted with a pinch of salt. A key question to ask the school is whether they agree with Ofsted's findings and what they are doing about it!

And if a school has been identified as requiring improvement, it should have more money spent on it and perhaps a new HT helicoptered in to improve the school. So don't write it off.

Attainment is not the same as progress.
So have a look at the 'progress 8' scores and compare to similar ones.

If the school has gone downhill in teaching it may not yet be reflected in outgoing pupils results.

How long has the Head been in place? (ie has new head come in within last 5 years and they aren't doing a good job?)

Do you know parents with older kids at the school at all? Can you get their impressions?

I wouldn't rule it out, it could be a blip. If the school's governors and senior leadership get their act together they could turn around a school fast. But if their are endemic issues and the leadership is ineffectual that is more of a concern.

The new Head started in September 2016 so it may be more of a case of the outgoing GCSE results for last year and previous years results were down to the outgoing Head and the new Head hasn't got a handle on things in the 9 months she's been there. The school has been improving steadily over the last 5 years hoping she's not already destroying everything previously achieved.

Does the Ofsted read as 'Requires Improvement but everything's in hand' or 'Requires Improvement and it's going down hill'?

Agree with all the above, Ofsted doesn't tell you the whole story so I wouldn't rule out this school just yet as it's so conveniently located.
Have a look at ParentView if you don't know anybody with DC there.
Is it popular/oversubscribed?
Best of luck!

A local primary has gone from requires improvement to Good in 2 years. I think that you need to get a copy of the report and talk to the school to see what the plan is.

First of all, RI schools do not get lots of money to make improvements. They must come up with an Improvement Plan and get on with it from their allocated budget. A new Head has probably inherited some problems but just watching pupils and looking at exam results tells you very little. Very little! Ofsted have delved deeply into everything and their reports are illuminating if you read between the lines. The key one here is whether they think the Leadership can improve. Clearly the new Head has not had much of a chance, but is he/she on the right lines? Most Ofsted reports given you a steer in this.

Also, Ofsted inspections are now very much about assessment of progress and actual progress made by children. They may get what appear to be good exam results, but if there are too many C grades that should be B grades, then there is a problem. Likewise, children missing out on A level A grades due to poor progress is not acceptable and it makes a big difference regarding university entrance.

The question you need to ask yourself is: "Do I think this school can improve rapidly so that when my DS starts, it is a Good school?"

Ofsted reports are very detailed now and are certainly not all about achievement. As your DS is Y5, you can afford to see what the school does to improve. (I think it odd that you think it is only boys who may misbehave outside school!). Additionally, few parents are in a position to judge the quality of a school because they do not have experience of a wide variety of schools. It is quite common for parents to like poor schools because they base their judgements on whether their child is happy but lack detailed knowledge. They rarely know if their child is making less progress than they should or that the leadership needs to improve. Parents do not go to Governing Body meetings or know how well the school is lead when making critical decisions, recruiting and training staff, ensuring children are well taught and make good progress etc. The Ofsted Report is far more reliable because it is objective and based on years of experience and high standards. They are also forensic!

(I think it odd that you think it is only boys who may misbehave outside school!)

When I read that I assumed it was an all boys' school

Bear in mind that good GCSE results can be due to the school cheating on how they handle in-school "controlled assessments". This is the case with our local school, and there was an article not long ago in the Guardian where the comments made it clear that this is not an isolated occurrence. When you also take into account the amount of tutoring that goes on, it becomes very difficult to assess whether it's what the children are learning in school that is responsible for its 'good' results!

84% A*-C is not good results if too many of these are C grades that should be higher though. This is why Ofsted delve into more than headline results. What appears good may not be if the children have not made good progress.

What's the progress 8 score like?

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk

very useful comments , thanks very much.I'll go back to the report and try to get a better handle on things mentioned such as progress.

Also, yes the comment about boys behaving ...... it is a boys school !!

RI may also be the result of the school 'coasting' which can happen when the intake is generally more able as a whole, because the school can be said to be not adding value. The 84% needs to be broken down into grades and as others have said, if those are mainly C grades when the profile of the cohort would indicate they were capable of higher, then there is a cause for concern.