School determined to regain 'good' Ofsted rating

Pam Cripps, head of St Wilfrid’s Primary, in Haywards Heath, said “ambitious plans” were in place for the school as staff worked towards regaining a ‘good’ rating.St Wilfrid’s underwent a three-day inspection with a six-strong team of inspectors in February and their findings were published on March 17. The report found that teaching was “not consistently good” while the expectations of what the pupils could achieve was not high enough.The children’s progress in writing and maths was described as “too variable”, with some teaching in those subjects “not challenging enough”.Looking at the behaviour of the children, the majority were seen to conduct themselves well both in class and around the school. Inspectors said they were “courteous, polite and well mannered”. A minority, though, were seen to have poor self-discipline which was not aided by staff sometimes failing to adhere to the school’s behaviour policy.Mrs Cripps said Ofsted’s report had given leaders a “clear focus” for the continued development of the school. She added: “While the headteacher, staff and governors of St Wilfrid’s are disappointed with the overall judgement, they believe that this inspection provides a unique opportunity to fully implement the systems and processes that they already have in place. These will ensure that expectations are consistently high.”She continued: “We are pleased that the inspectors acknowledged the politeness, courteous and well-mannered behaviour of the majority of our pupils and their readiness to learn. “We, like them, recognise that ensuring this consistency with all pupils are our next steps.”The Key Stage 2 results for St Wilfrid’s were in line with the national picture – with 57 per cent meeting the required standard and the children’s progress in reading rated above average.Mrs Cripps said leaders and governors knew which areas needed improvement and had put in place a Rapid Improvement Plan to address specific points.She added: “St Wilfrid’s is a strong and supportive team and the headteacher, staff, governors and parents are ambitious for the school will work together tirelessly in order to provide the best education for every one of our pupils.”

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