SENIOR staff and governors at a church primary school have responded to a finding it requires to improve, an Ofsted inspector found.
Steve Isherwood reached his conclusion following a monitoring visit to Overleigh St Mary’s Church of England Primary on Old Wrexham Road, Handbridge.
Last autumn, inspectors told headteacher Anthony Hadfield the school was judged to require improvement.
At a previous inspection the larger than average primary, which has 421 pupils on roll, was said to be ‘good’.
The inspectors said although pupils reached standards ‘above and often significantly above’ those expected nationally, youngsters made better progress in some classes than in others.
The quality of teaching varied too much between classes and the leadership and management also required improvement.
It did not ensure that teaching was at least consistently good across the school and that all pupils achieved well.
The school had an over optimistic view of its own performance and governors had not been rigorous enough in checking on the school’s work.
Mr Isherwood says it has been accepted the areas for improvement are the right ones for the school and immediate action has been taken.
The school improvement plan has been revised with actions to identify completed tasks but some of the measures do not have clear milestones against which progress can be measured.
Governors know why the school is not yet ‘good’ and understand what is being done to improve. They are ‘increasingly aware’ of the links between pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching.
The inspector concluded that effective action is being taken but suggested the improvement plan should be ‘fine tuned’ to show more clearly how the school will measure its success.
Cheshire West and Chester Council is said to have recognised its support for the school has been ‘slow to emerge’ and no training or action has taken place.
