Primary school in Oswestry vows to improve following Ofsted report

Governors and staff at a Shropshire primary school are committed to making rapid improvements following a recent Ofsted inspection.

Holy Trinity CE Primary School in Oswestry was recently inspected by Ofsted and has been given an ‘inadequate’ rating, with inspectors saying that teaching and leadership needed to improve to ensure pupils were getting an acceptable standard of education.

Inspectors visited the school on 26 February and 27 February 2013, and a letter explaining the outcome was sent to parents by the school on Monday 22 April 2013.

The report highlighted a number of areas that required improvement, but also noted some good aspects of the school, including the good progress pupils make in Key Stage 1, pupils’ enjoyment of reading, the way pupils feel safe at school, and how attendance is improving.

Inspectors were also impressed by the school’s use of the pupil premium, noting:

“The gap in attainment in English and mathematics between pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and their classmates has closed.  Last year, these pupils left school with levels of attainment similar to their peers nationally.  This shows that the school uses pupil premium funding well.”

However, inspectors were concerned that improvements to teaching and to standards had not been made quickly enough, saying: “School leaders and governors have been too slow to make essential improvements in teaching and, as a result, achievement in Years 3 to 6 is lower than when the school was previously inspected.” 

The school is now working hard on an action plan to put improvements in place, and Ofsted inspectors will check on the progress regularly to ensure that standards are improving.

Jane Mosford, chair of governors, said:

“The governors and staff of the school have already started working towards addressing the development points highlighted in the inspection report, and are confident that we can move the school forward.  There is a strong commitment by everyone at Holy Trinity to work closely with the council and wider school community to rapidly bring about improvements mentioned by Ofsted.”

Karen Bradshaw, Shropshire Council’s director of children’s services, added:

“Whilst the report is disappointing, we will be working together to raise standards at the school.  It is encouraging that the inspectors acknowledged the governing body’s desire to improve, and we will continue to support them to ensure pupils get the best education opportunities possible.”