School in New Mills comes out of special measures after Ofsted inspection

A New Mills school has been taken out of special measures after its latest Ofsted inspection.

 

By Lucy Ball - Buxton Advertiser

Thursday, 12th May 2022, 8:57 am

St George’s Primary School on Church Lane had previously been given the lowest grading by the education watchdog.

But after working hard to turn things around, the school has made major improvements, which were reflected in the report published last month following the most recent Ofsted inspection.

The inspector graded the school to be good in four areas with only the quality of education still deemed to be ‘requires improvement’. This meant overall grade the school received was ‘requires improvement’.

Executive headteacher Lynne Kilford said: “We are elated to be out of special measures.

"All the staff have worked so hard and every one of the team has gone above and beyond to lose that label for the school.

"It is disappointing to still be requires improvement and not good but we have already met all the targets the inspector set out.”

During lockdown Mrs Kilford said the school focused on the core subjects and learning in subjects such as history and geography were not given priority.

However, recognising their weaknesses the school signed up to a learning platform which would help the school support the children in these subjects.

She said: “We knew what we needed to do and were already working on it. Just the timing of the Ofsted inspection meant we were visited the day the new learning platform was to go before the governors and hadn’t been approved.

"It is now in place and we look forward to welcoming the inspectors back in 18 months when we hope to get the good rating.”

 Rachel Tordoff, lead inspector who visited the school, said: “Leaders have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. They have focused on the right things to improve the quality of education.

"Leaders make sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities(SEND) get the help they need.

“In the early years, staff focus closely on developing children’s speech and language. They encourage children to share their ideas and improve their vocabulary and the curriculum is well planned.”