Longlands Primary School committed to improve in response to critical Ofsted report

Staff and governors at Longlands Primary School in Market Drayton are working with Shropshire Council to address the outcomes of a recent report from Government inspectors.

The Ofsted inspection, which took place in February 2014, judged that whilst pupils feel safe at the school, and teaching in the reception class is consistently good, the school requires special measures as the achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and leadership and management are judged to be inadequate, and the behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement.

School leaders have taken immediate action and are working very closely with education advisers from the council to ensure that the measures needed to bring about the improvements are put in place.

Government inspectors will return at regular intervals to check on the progress the school is making and that improvements are happening at the pace required.

Although inspectors raised a number of concerns, their report also highlights a number of strengths. They found that:

• Good progress is made by children in the reception class.
• Pupils behave well when moving around the school and work and play together well, showing respect and courtesy towards each other and adults.
• The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good, and pupils feel safe at school.
• Recently strengthened strategies to monitor pupils’ achievement are starting to bear fruit.
• A good range of before and after school clubs, the provision of sports coaches and the school’s involvement in a local partnership of schools have raised pupils’ enjoyment of sports, games and physical exercise.
• The school soundly promotes the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

The inspectors also said that parents and carers they interviewed described the school as ‘welcoming’ and no one expressed any concerns.

Kim Stokes and Marie Manton, headteachers at Longlands Primary School, said:

“We are already working on the issues raised by the inspector. An action plan is in place to take the school forward, focused on the key priorities. Staff and governors are fully committed to securing further improvements and we are already making progress.”

Councillor Ann Hartley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services, added:

“It is pleasing that the report highlighted the positive aspects about the school, but it is clear that there are issues that need to be addressed. The headteacher, staff and governors have already begun work with the support of advisers from the council to address these priorities. We are all committed to making the necessary improvements to ensure the best possible provision for all pupils of Longlands Primary School.”

John Cadwallader, local Shropshire Councillor for Market Drayton East, said:

“As the local councillor I will strive to ensure that the staff and governors at Longlands receive all the necessary support implementing the school improvement plan.

“The school is fundamental to the community in Market Drayton and is much valued.

“I have every confidence that the necessary level of improvement will be achieved, and that the lives of the children attending Longlands will be enriched, and give them the foundation in education they need to prosper in life.”