'School lunchtimes see fall-outs between pupils often resulting in physical violence'

A Newsome school has lost its ‘outstanding’ rating following a recent Ofsted inspection.

Newsome Junior School has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ by the education watchdog.

Inspectors blamed the “considerable turbulence in leadership and staffing” on the decline in standards.

The report, published earlier this month, also criticised gaps in pupils’ learning and teachers not having high enough expectations of their students.

Officials identified problems with the teaching of disadvantaged and low-ability pupils and pointed out concerns over “unsettled behaviour” at lunchtimes and disruptions during lessons.

All four areas of teaching, management of the school, behaviour and welfare of students and their outcomes were rated as ‘requires improvement.’

This has dropped from the ‘outstanding’ rating handed to 234 pupil school following its last inspection eight years ago.

Inspectors noted considerable changes in the school leadership and teaching team since the retirement of the long-term headteacher three years ago.

The report said: “While there is an ambition from the current team to improve, there are still major changes taking place, and the decline in standards has not been fully addressed.”

It stated that the new leadership team had “not had the guidance necessary to help them improve outcomes in teaching and learning rapidly enough.”

Concern was raised about pupils’ progress over time not being consistently good in reading, writing or mathematics.

The report said: “There is not always enough opportunity for pupils to extend their ideas and learning, particularly those who are the most able.”

Concern was also voiced over the ‘difficult’ lunch breaks with fall-outs between pupils “often resulting in physical violence.”

The report noted: “The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.

“There is a strong feeling that pupils’ poor behaviour has had a negative impact on teaching and learning over recent years.”

Inspectors did praise the new leaders at the school as creating a “positive culture of safeguarding as a priority”, putting effective systems in place to help keep pupils safe.

Aspects of middle leadership were described as strong and the teacher with responsibility for pupils with special educational needs was praised as having a clear view of their wide-ranging needs.

It was noted that pupils had a good understanding of different faiths and cultures and were keen and proud to talk about their work.

Suggested improvements included giving pupils of all abilities a chance to extend their learning and develop ideas, reviewing the school behaviour policy and eradicating disruption in lessons.