Setting

Richard Barnes Acting Executive Headteacher St Bede's CofE Aided Junior School Bush Lane Send Woking Surrey GU23 7HP

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Junior School

Following my visit to your school on 11 July 2014, 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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Junior 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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Junior School

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

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Junior School

 revise the school improvement plan to include challenging targets for pupils’ achievement, and show how leaders are accountable for ensuring these are reached  review and clarify the roles and responsibilities of governors, and the actions required to improve governance  improve communication at all levels of leadership, so that all leaders are well-informed and know what to do to move the school forward. 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 5323 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Email : suzy.smith@tribalgroup.com

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Evidence

During the visit, I met with you, middle leaders and two representatives from the governing body. I also met with a National Leader of Education (a programme led by the Department for Education) who is providing support to school leaders, and a representative from the local authority to discuss the action taken since the last inspection. I visited classrooms, looked at documentation and evaluated the school improvement plan.

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Context

Since the section 5 inspection in March, the executive headteacher has left the school. You joined in April as executive deputy headteacher and are currently acting executive headteacher. A teacher has also moved to the other school in the federation.

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Main findings

The school is not taking effective action because the improvement plan does not address all the necessary areas for improvement or provide clear direction for the work required, and because communication between key groups of people, including the governing body and local authority, is not good enough.

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Main findings

The school improvement plan does not explain what actions you will take to improve achievement, or how governors will improve their work to monitor the school more effectively. The actions to improve teaching and learning are well-considered, but the impact on pupils’ progress is not clear enough to check if they are working.

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Main findings

There is a lack of shared understanding between leaders, governors and the local authority about how to bring improvement. All leaders need to communicate more effectively so they agree what needs to be done, understand their part in it and work together, in their specific roles, to address the areas for improvement.

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Main findings

You have restructured the teaching teams appropriately so that strong teachers will work alongside newer and less effective teachers, to give them support. Your well planned changes to the leadership team for September mean it is clearer who has responsibility for leading different areas of the school’s work. However, leaders are not held accountable for pupils’ learning and are not clear about how their actions will improve pupils’ progress.

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Main findings

Middle leaders have begun to increase their knowledge of their subjects. They have made some improvements to the way their subjects are taught, such as increasing ‘guided reading’ to a short session each day, and reinforcing mathematics learning through other subjects. However, the changes are not embedded and leaders are not clear how to check that they are helping pupils to learn more. You have rightly introduced a new behaviour policy to help tackle occasional poor behaviour in lessons. This is helping raise teachers’ and pupils’ expectations of behaviour. Because of this, behaviour in classes is better and pupils are learning more because disruption is less frequent.

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Main findings

Governors have undertaken the necessary review of their practice but have not yet taken any action to improve their effectiveness as a result. Governors are passionate about their role and commit significant time to the school, but they are not using the time efficiently to support the school to progress. They need to review the roles and responsibilities of individuals and committees, and act on the outcomes of the review, to sharpen their monitoring work.

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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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External support

The local authority has provided generous and appropriate support, especially at senior leader level. By financing a consultant headteacher for half the week and a National Leader of Education, the local authority has worked hard to lessen the potential impact of not having a permanent headteacher. Advisors have worked effectively with middle leaders to develop their skills in improving their subject areas, although this work is at an early stage.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Surrey and the Diocese of Guildford.

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