Microsoft word - ofsted report letter - november 2013[1].doc

Friday 8th November 2013 Dear Parents and Carers, OFSTED INSPECTION REPORT – OCTOBER 2013 Please see attached report which we have recently received from Ofsted following their inspection of our school last month. As you can no doubt appreciate, the headline result of the report is extremely disappointing for everybody connected with the school. However, putting the headline result aside, at the time of the inspection and within the main body of the Ofsted report, comments have been made about Whinmoor St. Paul’s which are extremely positive and confirm what we already knew; our school remains a superb environment for children to be educated. As disappointing as the final result is, the suggested areas of improvement have not come entirely as a surprise to staff and Governors. Indeed, only a few weeks prior to the arrival of Ofsted in September, the school put together its own Self Evaluation Form (S.E.F.) which highlighted, and in many respects mirrored the suggested areas of improvement identified by Ofsted. In simple terms, we knew what needed improvement and already had a plan to put it right. Whilst this may sound odd, it is perhaps pertinent to reflect on some of the challenges our school has faced in the last 18 months; • Our Head Teacher was unforeseeably absent for a significant period of the last academic • Significant other prolonged periods of absence of other teachers and administration staff • There have been an increasing number of children with complex and special needs, which is • There is currently a severe shortage of Primary School places nationally, as a school we have been obliged to accept additional children into some classes, which has increased class sizes above recommended class size legislation. The last 18 months have not been easy but we certainly do not make excuses. Whilst the timing of the recent Ofsted inspection could have been kinder to us, we accept the majority of the suggested areas of improvement (there are some areas which we do not agree with) and will take the school forward accordingly. The Governing Body have already met and discussed how we plan to get our school back to where we want to be. (A copy of the Governing Body meeting notes can be found on the school website or will be provided on request by the school office). Although we understand that there is a fair amount of work which needs to be done to get us back where we want to be, the challenge we face is far from insurmountable. Indeed, we expect to be in a position to invite Ofsted back to our school within the next 12 months, fully expecting to be re-inspected with an entirely more favourable outcome. I sincerely hope that the full content of the Ofsted report will be taken into consideration by parents and carers and that by writing to you in this way and tackling the issue head on, any concerns you may have as parents and carers will at least to some degree, be alleviated. However, should you wish to discuss matters any further Mrs Storey and members of the Governing Body are more than happy to discuss them with you. In the event that there is sufficient demand to do so, Mrs Storey and the Governing Body will gladly make arrangements to meet in school and discuss in an open forum environment. Finally, Mrs Storey and the Governor’s would like to extend our sincerest thanks to all parents who made such warm and positive comments to the Ofsted inspectors at the time of their visit. The continued support of parents and carers really is greatly appreciated. The spirit of our school and all the staff and Governors has certainly not been affected by this minor, temporary setback. We hope that we can as a school community, pull together and build on the excellent foundations we have in place at Whinmoor St. Paul’s. Yours faithfully Rod Watson Chair of Governors on behalf of the Governing Body

Source: http://www.whinmoorstpauls.co.uk/Ofsted%20Report%20Letter%20-%20November%202013.pdf