Thurcroft School special measures school fighing back

A SCHOOL has been placed in special measures after inspectors criticised its inadequate teaching and “dull and mundane” lessons.

Pupils’ achievements at Thurcroft Junior was low for these reasons, Ofsted’s report said, adding that the capacity for sustained progress was also poor.

It acknowledged a positive start since new head teacher Rebecca Scutt took over in September but added that there was still a long way to go.

Miss Scutt described the report as “extremely disappointing” but said that she, along with the staff and governors, was determined to make the necessary improvements to ensure children receive the best possible education.

Inspector Ann Taylor said: “Pupils’ attainment overall for the last three years has been low because of inadequate teaching.

“Generally, teachers' assessments are inaccurate and often pupils do the same work regardless of their ability. Expectations are too low.

“The curriculum does not engage or inspire pupils.

“It is not tailored to meet specific needs and lacks coherence and relevance.

“Lessons are often dull, ICT is not used enough to present work visually and the curriculum is not engaging or relevant enough for them.

“Pupls are often bored and restless because of mundane lessons.

“Behaviour outside lessons is generally good and the few pupils whose behaviour is challenging respond well to the school's systems so others’ learning is not disrupted.”

nglish and maths were singled out as subjects needing a boost in attainment, the inspectors said, adding that too little attention was paid to give youngsters an understanding of other cultures and communities.

Mrs Taylor said: “There are too few occasions when teachers model good practice for pupils to use as a guide for their own work.

“In the very best lessons, pupils were spellbound by understanding and interpreting characters in a story.

“They made excellent progress as they were enthusiastically engaged in learning.”

Attendance is improving and the improvements since the start of the school year were described as “small but significant.”

Mrs Taylor said: “For example, teachers are being made accountable for the performance of their pupils.

“There are now much tighter financial controls, good awareness of spending decisions and their impact on the outcomes for pupils and improvements made to ensure pupils’ safety.”

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iss Scutt said: “Since I took up in post we have begun making improvements and these have been recognised and applauded by the inspectors in their report.

"We are aware of our weaknesses and are acting to tackle those.

“The report also highlights that pupils do enjoy school and want to learn so we are now using that positive feeling to help boost attendance as any day a child misses from school has a negative impact on their education.

“As a school we are looking at the curriculum we offer and how we adapt our teaching to develop and broaden the quality of learning.

“This will include better use of ICT, better sharing of good practice between staff and improving the use of assessment to monitor that progress.”

Miss Scutt said that the school community would be pulling together for the better and that the school was confident of an upturn in SATs results.

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