Express & Star

Tipton school rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted after 'ineffective' teaching

A school in Tipton has been dubbed ‘inadequate’ after Ofsted inspectors found teaching was “ineffective” and that pupils were getting away with “basic mistakes”.

Published
The entrance to the primary school

Foxyards Primary School, on Foxyards Road, was rated ‘good’ at its previous inspection, but has slipped in standards considerably.

Inspectors found that students were making “poor progress” in all subjects, and that school leaders were not aware of the school’s weaknesses.

Pupils with special education needs or disabilities are “not identified accurately” and they don’t receive the right support, meaning they also make “poor progress”.

Additional funding the school receives was “not used effectively to help disadvantaged pupils or pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.”

The report also found that teachers do not have an understanding of how well pupils are performing, meaning “expectations of what pupils should achieve and how they should behave are too low.”

Progress

Teaching does not meet pupil’s needs, with the work provided often “too hard or too easy”.

“Consequently, pupils make poor progress in reading, writing and mathematics,” the report read.

“Where teaching is weakest, pupils’ learning is disrupted by poor behaviour.”

Inspectors found that the teaching of handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation skills was “particularly weak” and that teachers did not address “basic mistakes”, meaning pupils’ writing did not improve over time.

The report, which was published on May 9 after the inspection on January 15 and 16, did find some strengths within the school.

It said: “Pupils enjoy coming to school, are well cared for and have positive relationships with staff.

“Staff ensure that pupils are kept as safe as possible and learn how to stay safe.”

The school was found to have an overall rating of inadequate, after having the same rating for the effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for pupils.

The report rated the school “requires improvement” for personal development, behaviour and welfare and early years provision.

Foxyards Primary School has been contacted for comment.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.