Inspectors praise East Dene school

Ofsted says a restructure at East Dene Primary has resulted in a “sharper focus” and pupils are benefiting from reduced rate of staff turnover.

The inspectors said the quality of teaching at the school, which was rated as satisfactory in 2009, is improving all the time and attainment is being boosted by a more creative curriculum.

But they say attempts to increase attendance have not yet been successful.

Inspector Fiona Gowers said:  “The proportion of lessons with good and better quality teaching is increasing. At this time the school has made satisfactory progress in making improvements in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.”

At the January monitoring visit pupils said they found lessons more fun now. Their enjoyment is improving Key Stage 2 results but attainment remains low at Key Stage 1.

Mrs Gowers said: “Classrooms are being reorganised to provide more opportunities for pupils to extend their learning and explore things for themselves.

“There are signs that some pupils are starting to make faster progress at Key Stage 1. However, it is too soon to see the full impact of recent improvements.”

“In some lessons, learning activities are not as well matched to meet the needs of different groups of learners.

“Expectations are not always high enough and the pace of learning is not always fast enough.”

She added: “The quality of teaching is steadily improving as a result of a staff reorganisation, as well as training and coaching programmes.

“Governors are developing a clearer view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.”