York school ‘requires improvement’ says Ofsted
A York primary school ‘requires improvement’ say Ofsted inspectors – even though children there are happy, valued and cared for.
Osbaldwick Primary Academy was visited by inspectors last November, and the report has just been published.
However, the Ebor Academy Trust, which runs the school, has branded the Ofsted report ‘unfair’.
“The school’s motto: ‘Be safe, be kind, aim high’ underpins the work of the school,” the report says.
“However, in some subjects, and in the early years foundation stage, the curriculum design is not as well established.
“In these areas, important pieces of knowledge are not clearly identified or broken down into small sequential steps.”
The full ratings are:
- Overall effectiveness – Requires improvement
- The quality of education – Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes – Good
- Personal development – Good
- Leadership and management – Requires improvement
- Early years provision – Requires improvement
The main criticism of Ofsted is the “variability in the strength of the curriculum between subjects”.
The report states: “Leaders have developed a well-sequenced curriculum in subjects, such as mathematics and music. However, in the early years, and in other subjects such as history, leaders have not identified the essential facts that they want pupils to learn over time.
“This means that sometimes pupils do not have the prior knowledge that they need to make sense of the new learning.”
Other points in the report include:
- Most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well in school
- Pupils behave well. They like the school’s system where they can move to ‘Wow’ rewards for great behaviour
- Pupils say that bullying is very rare. If it did happen, they are confident that adults would sort it out promptly
- The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
Inspectors say the school, which has 288 pupils aged 3 to 11, should look to improve early reading assessment, break down complex subjects into “precise, well-sequenced steps” and improve the early years curriculum.
You can read the full report here.