A SHEEPRIDGE Junior School is reported to be making ‘good’ progress in a recent Ofsted monitoring inspection.
Ashbrow Junior School, which was placed in Special Measures over a year ago, was visited in March by inspectors who found the head teacher and her team to be ‘driving the school forward’.
Her Majesty’s Inspector, Angela Westington, said progress since being subject to special measures and previous monitoring inspections was ‘good’.
Her report said: “The quality of teaching continues to improve.
“Almost all teaching is now satisfactory or better; half of the teaching observed during this inspection was good.
“The school knows that the next step is to raise the quality of all teaching to good or better.”
The report went on to state that behaviour continues to improve and the school is a calm, welcoming, orderly community.
Pupils are happy and well behaved in lessons and on the playground.
The inspector praised the school’s leadership under head teacher Dora Plant and the senior management team.
The report continues: “The headteacher and deputy headteacher provide very good leadership and direction for staff.
“They are driving the school forward with a palpable sense of urgency.
“Their action plans are clear, sharply focused on the correct priorities and provide a clear steer for the school’s development.
“They have established an extensive, robust and detailed programme of monitoring across all the areas of the school’s priorities.”
Areas noted where improvements have been made include reading – partly due to a newly purchased reading scheme. New library stock and multiple copies of high quality children’s literature were also having a very positive impact.
“Pupils love reading; the school’s recent reading survey highlighted this.
“They are making better progress in reading than in mathematics and writing, although it could be more rapid still.”
The school Meadow Close currently has 154 children on the roll.
