Good reports as schools improve

Buy photos » Ellie Bonehill,Chloe Hilton, Ashley Hicks, Alesha Amin, Jed Morecombe and headteacher Ceri Marshall celebrate their great Ofsted result. Picture by Jon Mullis 10.013.002.redd.jm1 (www.buyphotos247.com)

A PAIR of improving Redditch schools have had their achievements recognised by the regulator.

Ofsted inspectors recently visited St Luke’s First School on Plymouth Road and Feckenham First School and upgraded both from satisfactory to good.

At St Luke’s inspectors found standards in maths, reading and writing were in line with national trends and teaching was good overall. There was also strong leadership provided by headteacher Ceri Marshall, supported by her team of staff and governing body.

Pupils in the reception class enjoyed high quality care and teaching ensuring they achieved well while children also attended regularly, were well behaved and enjoyed a variety of additional activities throughout the school year.

In order to improve further inspectors said teachers needed to improve pupils’ problem solving abilities in mathematics and ensure all lessons proceeded at a brisk pace as it was too slow in a small number of cases.

Miss Marshall said: “We are extremely proud of the Ofsted outcome and it is a reflection of the contribution made by the whole school community.”

Feckenham First School received a good rating in all areas except for pupil behaviour, which was classed as outstanding.

Inspectors found standards of reading, writing and mathematics at the School Lane school were higher than the national average, teachers demanded a lot from pupils and ensured they learnt well while children were found to listen carefully, co-operate and contribute equally. The standard of teaching was described as consistently good ‘leading to good progress across the school’. Pupils also had opportunities to develop a wide range of skills in the classroom, secure outdoor area and in the Forest School.

In order to become outstanding one of the areas which needs focusing on is to extend the system of checking children’s progress in English and Maths to other subjects.

Headteacher Jeannette Little said they were extremely proud of their pupils.

“The greatest change has been our approach to the curriculum and looking very closely at the immediate needs of our pupils. As a result the quality of teaching has risen significantly,” she said.

Ofsted introduced a new inspection regime last year which raised the bar on school standards. Every school is now expected to be rated good as a minimum. Across Worcestershire 139 schools are ranked good with 34 outstanding.

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