Setting

Mr Richard May Headteacher Green Mount Primary School St Vincents Road Ryde PO33 3PT

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 24 June 2014 with Fiona Bridger-Wilkinson, seconded inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in March 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary School

Senior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection. The school should take immediate action to:

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Primary School

 prioritise actions from the long and detailed improvement plan much more concisely and ensure that they are carried out  ensure that the impact of all improvement work is precisely measured so that its effectiveness can be accurately judged by those responsible  increase the level of urgency with which the governing body challenges the school to focus on teaching and learning.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with you and other senior leaders, and members of the Governing Body to discuss the action taken since the last inspection. I spoke with the school’s Leadership and Learning Partner (LLP) on the telephone. Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5307 Email : rachel.evans@tribalgroup.com The school improvement plan was evaluated and I reviewed a selection of pupils’ books. I looked at current information on pupil progress and at notes of visit from the local authority. With you, I visited most classrooms in the school and talked to pupils. The school’s single central record was examined.

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Context

A new deputy headteacher joined the school in April 2014. One reception teacher has left the school.

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Main findings

Since the inspection you have created a detailed improvement plan to take the school forward in collaboration with staff and governors. This is a useful document, but very long. The time taken in planning for change and improvement appears to have delayed several actions which are key to driving the improvement required. The appointment of the new deputy head has provided much-needed senior leadership support. However, monitoring activities such as lesson observations are still only being carried out by the two of you. This means that the impact of training and development with the staff is taking too long to gauge.

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Main findings

Your focus on teaching is beginning to make a difference to standards in some classes but this is not yet consistent. Your evaluation of pupils’ progress and their learning is not yet being sharply enough linked to the quality of teaching. You have invested significant resources in expanding the range of reading books for pupils, and a guided reading scheme is now in place ensuring that pupils read for at least half an hour each day. Pupils are enjoying increased access to good books in their classrooms.

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Main findings

Subject leaders, following useful training, are taking steps to improve mathematics and literacy, particularly reading. An interesting ‘mathematics week’ taking place during the monitoring visit clearly engaged pupils and raised the profile of this subject. Nevertheless, activities in several classrooms were still not challenging enough for more-able pupils. You are, rightly, planning to evaluate the impact of this event on pupils’ progress. Subject leaders are not yet able to say if pupils are achieving or teachers are teaching better in their subjects as they do not yet check how much progress pupils make or carry out lesson observations. The literacy leader has begun to scrutinise pupils’ work to measure the impact of the school’s focus on writing and reading.

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Main findings

Although you report higher levels of attainment for Year 6 pupils, current information about pupil progress does not show accelerated progress this term for most pupils, and neither do pupils’ books.

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Main findings

The learning environment is too cluttered and lacks focus. This does not help pupils, particularly those with additional needs, to use displays for support with their work. The external review of governance has taken place but focused largely on paperwork. Whilst providing some valuable insights, it did not stress with enough urgency the need for governors to turn talk into action and unquestioning support into constructive challenge. Governors have not yet clearly identified who will be responsible for monitoring key areas and how they will evaluate progress.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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Main findings

HMI will return to the school to meet with the governing body during the autumn term.

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External support

The local authority is providing valuable support for the school in terms of English and mathematics improvement with leaders of these areas and teachers. The impact of this work remains at a very early stage. Additional time has been allocated from the school’s LLP to support the development of these subjects and their effective leadership.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

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