School to focus on '˜rapid progress' after Ofsted report

Northgate Primary School, in Crawley, underwent an inspection on November 3-4 and the findings were published on December 4.

The school was judged as ‘requires improvement’ in all areas except for early years provision, which was rated ‘good’.

In a report, the inspection team said teaching was “not consistently good” with expectations about children’s written work and handwriting “too low”.

Some pupils were found to be “too ready to stop work when teaching does not engage them well” while others took little pride in the presentation of written work.

The report recommended an external review of the school’s governance be carried out, as their were not enough governors and some were unable to make the necessary commitment to the role.

It was noted that some had started to visit the school more frequently for discussions with leaders but it was too soon to judge any progress made.

While listing several areas in which the school needed to improve, the inspectors recognised the work carried out by headteacher Georgina Beaven to eliminate inadequate teaching at Northgate.

The report stated: “Since joining a year ago, the headteacher has taken determined, effective action to improve teaching and leadership. Staff overwhelmingly support the changes being made.”

Mrs Beaven said: “Ofsted’s judgments are driven by published data and so the grading was not unexpected.

“We were pleased that the report acknowledged many strengths of the school and noted that improvements have already been made.

“We will continue to focus our efforts on securing further rapid progress.”

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