QUEEN’S Park Junior School in Bournemouth has been placed on special measures after a damning report from government inspectors.
Low attainment, disruptive behaviour and inadequate teaching led Ofsted inspectors to conclude the school is “failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education”.
Now senior staff have been told to make major changes to raise standards at the school, in East Way.
The school has 337 pupils, with significantly more boys than girls and a high proportion of pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.
During a two-day inspection in March, inspectors observed 18 lessons and held meetings with pupils, governors and staff.
Their report says standards need to improve and “the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement.”
It goes on to say “the school has failed to eliminate under-achievement” and “in many lessons observed, disruptive behaviour hampered the flow of learning and teaching.”
The school uses designated rooms to provide support for pupils who find it difficult to behave responsibly in the playground, described by inspectors as “warm, welcoming and well-resourced places.”
Other aspects of the school praised include the way pupils have adopted healthy lifestyles and their contribution to the wider community. More than nine out of 10 parents who responded to a questionnaire said their children enjoy school and that teaching is good.
But inspectors said the quality of teaching needs to be improved, leaders and managers must monitor attainment in a more effective way and that low-level disruption must be addressed. Literacy and numeracy skills must also be improved.
Head teacher Dominic Sibeth said he is disappointed with the report and children and staff work hard.
He said: “We will be focusing specifically on fair and consistent discipline, good behaviour, interesting lessons, good teaching and learning and teaching children to recognise the needs, rights and responsibilities of individuals.”
Chair of Governors Caroline Sard said the school has made a formal complaint to Ofsted, adding: “We do not accept the judgement as an accurate reflection of the school’s level of performance.”
And Bournemouth education chief Jane Portman said she is disappointed, but added: “However, we do agree that there are further improvements to be made.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article