A recent Ofsted report has rated a Malvern school as inadequate and criticised the way that bullying at the school is dealt with.
Inspectors visited Grove Primary School in Malvern on 15th and 16th March 2022.
The report found that “most pupils who attend this school are happy and feel safe. This is because they have staff who care about them. At playtimes and lunchtimes, pupils play well together. The younger pupils enjoy the games that the sports leaders organise.”
“Some of the older pupils feel that school would be a better place if everyone was kind, and no one was mean. They feel, and some parents and carers agree, that staff do not deal with bullying when it happens. Leaders gave evidence to inspectors to show that staff do act, and that this action is appropriate.
“Recent improvements in some areas of the curriculum are helping more pupils to know and remember more. However, leaders have not thought carefully enough about how pupils’ learning is organised for different age groups. This means that in many subjects, pupils do not get the chance to build on what they have done before.
“Most pupils say that they enjoy their learning. In lessons, many pupils listen carefully to staff and work sensibly to complete their work. There are lessons, however, where pupils do not listen and disrupt the learning of others through talking and calling out. Some staff allow this to happen.”
The report went on to describe that the “school has faced significant challenges during the last few years. This is not solely related to the pandemic. An interim executive board replaced the governing body last year. Working with the local authority, it has secured external support for
leaders. This has led to a clearer focus on improving the quality of education.
“However, leaders have not acted quickly enough to address the weaknesses, especially in teaching and pupils’ learning, that have existed for many years.
“With some external support, leaders have worked on improving the curriculum in physical education, early reading, English and mathematics.
“This means that there is a clear sequence of learning in these areas that matches the ambition of the national curriculum. However, leaders have not given enough consideration to many of the other subjects that are taught. Pupils’ learning in too many subjects is not good enough.
“This year, leaders introduced a new science curriculum. This curriculum requires all pupils to study the same objectives across the whole of key stage 2. As a result, pupils in the older year groups are not building on previous learning and pupils in the younger year groups are doing work designed for Year 6. There are similar issues with the geography curriculum.”
You can view the Ofsted report in full by visiting the following link – Ofsted | Grove Primary School
