St Mary's CofE (C) First School fails to make Ofsted improvements
A primary school which was told to improve by an education watchdog has failed to make sufficient progress10 months on.
Ofsted inspectors found that St Mary’s First, in Wheaton Aston, 'required improvements' following a visit in December.
But after returning to monitor the situation in July they have concluded that effective progress had not been made.
The areas the school was initially told to improve included effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for pupils. However, it was rated as 'good' in personal development, behaviour and welfare and for early years provision.
In the latest report, inspector Adam Hewett, said: "Senior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle areas requiring improvement identified at the last inspection in order to become a good school."
He added: "Leaders have not taken sufficient action to ensure that they have a clear and accurate view of the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning.
"There are plans in place to make greater use of expertise from leaders from the partner middle school to be involved on a more regular basis in supporting school leaders.
"However, these plans have not been fully implemented, so it is not possible to identify the impact they will have."
The school on Marston Road was criticised for failing to monitor the quality of teaching and knowing what needs to be done to improve it.
Similarly, the latest report said students attainment is not monitored closely enough to track pupils' progress and identify where to improve.
They were praised for using pupil premium funding to employ teaching assistants to provide extra support for students who need it.
However, Mr Hewett said barriers to learning are not accurately identified, saying: "Interventions are not sharply focused on the different needs of the pupils and are not evaluated to determine the impact that they are having on pupils’ progress.
"As a result, differences in outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in reading, writing and mathematics are not narrowing rapidly enough against other pupils nationally."
St Mary's was praised for being committed to improving outcomes for pupils and and for being open to advice and support.
Their regular problem solving activities is developing mathematics skills and independent pieces of writing are helping with grammar and punctuation.
As part of the plans to improve, St Mary's, which has around 90 students, has committed itself to walking more closely with their partner middle school.
No one at St Mary's First School was available for comment at the time the Express & Star went to print.
