Inspectors take improving Melton school out of ‘special measures’

We reported back in March that The Grove Primary School had been told it was making positive strides following an interim inspection and staff have now been told the school has moved up to a standard of ‘requires improvement’.

It was found by inspectors to be an improving school where leaders were ‘effective in bringing about improvements to behaviour, the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes’, that there were good relationships between teachers and pupils and that early years’ children made good progress.

But the report highlights a number of areas where improvement is needed, such as the need for more pupils to make the progress they are capable of, a requirement for teachers to clamp down on bad behaviour and for attendance records to be raised from a level which is below the national average.

Reacting to the new Ofsted rating, headteacher Steve Nash, who was appointed after the school went into ‘special measures’, said: “This is a positive step in the right direction.

“We are proud to be making progress which is already giving real benefits to our children.

“We will always strive to make sure that the children get the highest level of education they deserve.”

The recent inspection was carried out on May 14 and 15 but the findings have only been published this week.

Lead inspector, John Lawson, reported that the school now had good leadership and early years’ provision and he praised the positive relationships and increasing ethos of mutual respect among the pupils and staff.

His report stated: “The cohesive senior leadership team are successfully addressing a legacy of underachievement and poor behaviour.

“They are determined to bring about continued improvement.

“Their decisive, well-chosen actions have brought about improvements in all aspects of the school’s work.”

The quality of teaching was seen to be improving and pupils had increasingly positive attitudes to reading with inspectors highlighting the use of novels to support learning.

Leaders and other staff encouraged pupils to have high aspirations of themselves, the report continued, and a recent initiative to promote pupils’ positive mental health and well-being was giving children greater self-confidence and understanding of their emotions.

The report also stated: “The large majority of parents and carers who spoke with inspectors were very positive about the school and the improvements made.

“Many parents spoke positively of the progress that their children are making.

“‘They are always trying to push them to do better’ was a typical comment.

“Parents were nearly unanimous that their children enjoyed coming to school.”

The inspectors, however, say there is still work to do for the Asfordby Road school, which has 159 pupils.

Teaching standards were improving, they found, but they weren’t consistent throughout the school.

Pupils were found not to have an understanding of ‘British values’ for their age and maturity and staff needed to ensure behaviour was better and that children attended more regularly and were more punctual.

Mr Nash added: “There is of course still more work to be done, because we are aiming to get the school to be good overall.

“With the dedication and expertise of our staff, the continuing hard work of our children, parents on-going support and commitment, and the support of the wider community, I know that The Grove will continue to go from strength to strength.”