Seagrave Primary School branded 'inadequate'

A CITY school has been slammed by the education watchdog for the lack of progress made by pupils in English and maths.

Ofsted inspectors also said that teachers at Seagrave Primary, in Strelley, did not set tough enough work and lessons weren't always interesting.

They gave the school the worst possible rating of "inadequate" after their January visit.

In the report, which has just been published, lead inspector Mina Drever did highlight some strengths, including school leaders knowing what needed to be done to address the issues raised, and an improvement in pupils' behaviour.

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The report said: "There is a long history of under-achievement. Children enter the school with levels of development well below those found nationally.

"They make inadequate progress in English and mathematics as they proceed through to Year 6.

"Standards in English, reading and writing are below the national average across the school, though the proportion of pupils in Year 6 who made expected progress in Key Stage 2 increased substantially between 2011 and 2012.

"Younger children do not develop communication skills well enough because adults do not encourage them to explain what they are doing and why."

The school was rated "inadequate" in two of the four areas inspected – achievement of pupils and quality of teaching – and was said to "require improvement" in the other two, which were behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

It was rated "satisfactory" after its previous inspection in 2009 – a grade which no longer exists. Since then, inspections have been made tougher.

Being rated "inadequate" means the school will be subject to regular monitoring inspections.

The report added: "In mathematics there is not enough good or better teaching to accelerate pupils' learning and progress.

"Teachers sometimes have very low expectations of learning and often pupils are not clear about what teachers expect of them. There is very little planning for different ability groups and many activities are not stimulating enough."

In a statement, acting head teacher Tim Jeffs and governors' chairman Liz Hart, said: "The school is obviously disappointed with the Ofsted rating and, having previously identified some issues raised by the inspectors following their visit, had already started to make improvements.

"We were pleased to see the inspectors recognised this and spoke positively about the work we are doing

"The inspectors highlighted current strengths, including teaching of English, which has seen dramatic improvements in progress, especially in Key Stage 2, and behaviour and attendance.

"We have written to our parents telling them of the outcomes of the inspection and the steps the school is taking to address them."

One parent, who did not want to be named, said: "It is sad that these issues at the school have been highlighted.

"I'm happy my child is at the school.

There clearly have been issues but they are working very hard to correct them."