Ofsted says Sutton primary school needs to improve... but its new leaders are praised

The education watchdog visited the Brierley Forest Primary School, on Westbourne View, in February.

Inspectors said the overall effectiveness of the school requires improvement, which is a fall in standards from the Good rating following its previous inspection in 2014.

Ofsted said the quality of teaching, learning and assessment all requires improvement, as does personal development and welfare.

Inspectors said the strengths of the school were that leaders and governors have an increasingly accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They have started to reverse the decline in pupils’ attainment.

Diane Ward, executive headteacher, focused on the positives.

She said: “As the new leadership team, we are delighted that the latest Ofsted report recognises and supports the recent developments and positive changes that we have made in school and praises the level of care that we offer our children.

“We are particularly pleased to be considered a school with ‘a well-established culture of safeguarding’ where ‘pupils feel and are kept safe by well-trained and knowledgeable staff’.

“Although the school is currently judged to require improvement in this latest Ofsted inspection, we are encouraged that inspectors have rated the school’s leadership and management as ‘Good’ and importantly recognised that we have started to reverse the decline in pupils’ attainment and that children in the early years foundation stage are now making rapid progress.

The school said it was encouraged that the report highlights improvements in the children’s attitude to learning and pride they take in their written work.

“The report is clear about the areas where we need to continue to focus and we are already prioritising these in our school development plan,” Mrs Ward said.

“We will be keeping parents up to date with the progress we are making and will also be holding regular ‘learning cafes’ so we can share details of their child’s learning with parents.”

Mrs Ward promised that Ofsted inspectors will record an improvement next time they visit the school.

“We are confident that everyone at Brierley Forest Primary and Nursery School is working together effectively so that we can provide the best possible education to the children and that we will further improve our grading at our next inspection.

“I must also praise our children who were brilliant at sharing their work and school experiences with the inspectors and rightly deserve the recognition they have received.”