School no longer ‘failing’ as inspectors hail improvements

Littleworth Grange Primary in Lundwood, Barnsley, was deemed to be failing children after an inspection in March 2010, and teachers were ordered to change the way they worked.

A new executive headteacher, Sarah Creighton, was brought in to oversee changes and, after a two-day visit last month, Ofsted lifted the negative verdict and said the school was “improving”.

Mrs Creighton said: “All the staff and governors are delighted that the significant improvements the school has made over the last 12 months have been recognised by Ofsted.

“Ofsted acknowledged that the school knew where further improvements were needed and had plans in place to address those issues.”

During last month’s visit inspectors observed teachers as they taught lessons to the school’s 463 pupils. They also held meetings with staff, governors and pupils.

In the report, the inspectors said: “Littleworth Grange is now a satisfactory and improving school,” adding that several aspects were good, such as the early years foundation stage.

They also highlighted the appointment of Mrs Creighton and added: “This proved to be a pivotal moment for the school as the vision and strategic leadership skills she brought have acted as a catalyst for fundamental changes which have improved key aspects of the school’s work.”

The inspectors found pupils’ achievement compared with the national averages remained low because they were still catching up from a poor start made when they were younger.

But they said learning and progress, including among those with children special educational needs or disabilities, was at least satisfactory.

The report also made recommendations for action in several areas to bring about further improvement.

Inspectors said staff should “increase levels of pupil achievement so that attainment is closer to national age-related expectations, improve further the effectiveness of the teaching so that it is consistently good and improve pupil attendance”.