Telscombe school placed in special measures

Telscombe Cliffs Community Primary School has been placed in special measures after an inspection by Ofsted.

The schools watchdog concluded that the overall standard of the school was inadequate as was the leadership and management while the quality of teaching required improved.

Three inspectors visited 20 lessons taught by 16 teachers over two days and interviewed parents, pupils, teachers, senior staff and a governor.

The Ofsted report can be read here. It said: “This is a school that requires special measures. It is not good because

• Senior leaders have not been effective in improving the quality of teaching and learning since the previous inspection.
• The improvement in standards in writing and mathematics has been too slow and pupils do not have enough opportunities to use their mathematical skills in science or geography lessons.
• The overall quality of teaching is not consistently good across the school. This results in uneven progress for pupils.
• Weaknesses in teaching identified at the previous inspection have not been tackled effectively. Some teachers still do not provide activities for pupils that are matched to their needs, particularly for the less able pupils.
• When senior leaders ask teachers to work on improving an aspect of their practice, they do not go back to see whether the weakness has been tackled.
• School leaders are not self-critical enough and have an over optimistic view of the strengths of the school.
• School development plans are not sharp enough.
• The governing body is not well informed about the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress and does not challenge school leaders effectively.

“The school has the following strengths

• Behaviour is good and pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They are polite and courteous to adults and each other.
• Attendance is above average.
• Teachers manage behaviour well so that little time is wasted in lessons.
• Pupils say they feel safe in school and that any form of bullying is dealt with promptly.”

The future of the school is in doubt after Education Secretary Michael Gove said in a speech in June that sponsors would be sought to turn every failing school into an academy. This would mean closing the school and reopening it with new leadership.

He has since written to the local education authority, East Sussex County Council, criticising the performance of primary schools in the county.

The future of headmistress Gill Webb is also in doubt. Many schools placed in special measures appoint a new head teacher.