EDALE SCHOOL BOUNCES BACK TO GOOD
After an Ofsted Inspection in February 2017 which rated Edale Church of England Primary School, as ‘Inadequate’, a further full inspection visit by Ofsted inspectors in June 2018 has now judged the school to be ‘Good’. Moving to a ‘Good’ rating in 16 months from ‘Inadequate’ is very unusual. Of the 166 primary schools judged inadequate across the country and in special measures in the 2016/17 academic year, only one other school ha been judged Good and out of special measures other than Edale School. This has been achieved by dedicated efforts on the part of teachers, support staff and governors to reach the best possible outcomes for the school’s children.
Mrs Nancy Lees, former Executive Head of Edale and Castleton Schools said at the time of the June 2018 Inspection, that 'It has been an absolute privilege to work with such a dedicated school community. Everyone has worked so hard and made such determined contributions to bring about improvement. The judgement of 'good' is well deserved, I am delighted for Edale School and am confident that it will continue to go from strength to strength.'
The Inspection team noted that school leaders have provided strong and determined leadership and clear direction for the school which has led to rapid improvements. They rated the quality of teaching and learning across the school as good, with teachers planning lessons that inspire and motivate pupils to learn.
The school has established effective links with other local schools, the inspectors noted. These enable pupils to mix with more children of their own age and access a broader range of curricular activities. The school, the inspectors wrote, has reviewed the curriculum to ensure that it is broad and balanced. It provides pupils with a variety of opportunities and experiences, and helps to broaden pupils’ understanding of the world and stimulate their learning in different subject, the inspectors felt
During the visit, the inspectors noted that relationships between adults and pupils were caring and respectful. Pupils are confident and behave very well, they observed, in lessons and around the school. The school is a calm and happy place to learn, the inspectors judged. Pupils are confident, polite and enthusiastic learners, and are clear about the expectations for behaviour, which are consistently and positively promoted by staff.
As a result of the inspection, the school has been told it is no longer in ‘special measures’. The co-chairs of the school’s governing body, Kay Argyle and John Payne, have congratulated the school’s staff on this excellent result and said they were profoundly grateful for the commitment to the school shown by all staff. They indicated that they had had a plan from February 2017 to get the school back to ‘Good’ by July in the following year and that this had now been fully achieved
Edale Primary School is bouncing back from being put in 'special measures' in February 2017.
Last year, we appointed a new headteacher, Mrs Lees, who recently led Castleton Primary to a 'good' rating by Ofsted We are are very pleased with the changes and progress Mrs Lees has already made during her time with us so far.
Our aim is to be back to our usual 'good' rating by July 2018. We are on target for this, as can be seen in the recent reports from Ofsted, who have visited again in October and February to review our progress, and the Diocese. The Diocese (Church School) inspection took place in December 2017 and the inspectors were impressed enough to make the very rare decision to rate the school as 'good'. It is very unusual for a school to turn around so quickly and it is hugely rewarding to have their recognition of this. Well done everyone for all their work in getting these excellent reports and feedback from Ofsted and the Diocese!
Useful Information:
School Performance Data
Please find below the link to the DFE performance data site. This gives full figures for pupil performance at Key Stage Two nationwide.
At Edale C of E Primary any data needs to be considered carefully in the light of the exceptionally small cohorts. In order to protect individuals, full information on pupil outcomes is not published.