A village school has been rated as “inadequate” by inspectors.
Helme CE Junior and Infant School was rated “good” in only one of five key criteria and “inadequate” in the other four by education watchdog Ofsted following an inspection in January. The school had previously been rated “good” overall after an inspection in November, 2011.
The latest report said leadership at the school, which has 132 pupils aged four to 11, had been ineffective in halting a decline in standards and progress. Senior and middle leaders did not check and evaluate the progress of all groups of pupils well enough to ensure they were making the necessary progress and plans for improvement did not prioritise weaknesses well enough.
The report criticised governors for not holding the school’s leaders properly to account for pupils’ progress while it said teachers did not always challenge pupils enough, including the most able.
It said: “Progress in reading, writing and mathematics at key stage 2 was well below the national average in 2016, with reading and writing in the bottom 5% of schools nationally.”
The report said disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs or disabilities did not receive the support they needed to make good progress from their starting points.
However, the report said pupil behaviour was good, staff maintained a strong safeguarding culture and attendance for all groups is above average.
Acting head teacher Nigel Codling said: “Whilst the outcome of the report is clearly disappointing, it is important to stress that we had already identified many of the issues raised by Ofsted and were taking proactive steps to address them. Action was under way before the inspection took place and the benefits of some of this work are already becoming clear.
“The school’s acting leadership has only been in place for a very short time, but many new ways of working have been introduced to raise standards and improve outcomes. We are also accessing a wide range of support and our absolute priority is to continue developing as quickly as possible.
“Ofsted did highlight important strengths, including the behaviour and development of our children, but we have a clear focus on improvements and we are confident that standards are rising.
“We are immensely proud of our role in the local community and we know that staff, parents and governors share the same ambitions for our school. Since the report was published, parents have been hugely supportive of everything we are trying to achieve.”
