A Filton school has again been declared ‘good’ by Ofsted inspectors, who said the Filton Hill Primary in Blenheim Drive was ‘welcoming’ with relations between pupils and staff ‘warm and nurturing’.
However the school has seen leadership changes since the last inspection in 2019, which was also ‘Good’, and the inspector said that a ‘graded’ inspection which detailed performance across different criteria might not produce a ‘Good’ judgement.
As a result, the school’s next inspection will be ‘graded’, although this will be under the new Ofsted framework which means four aspects of school performance will be considered, with an overall judgement not given.
Those four areas are:
Quality of education
Behaviour and attitudes
Personal development
Leadership and management
A spokesperson for the Olympus Academy Trust, which runs the school, said that under the new leadership of Sharon Clark they would ‘make sure’ the school was good in all four areas.
Olympus Academy Trust CEO Dave Baker said that this summer’s positive SATS results had not been verified at the time of the inspection so were not taken into account by the inspector.
He said that at the time of the inspection, while standards have improved since Ms Clark took over, standards had not quite got back to the levels seen at the 2019 inspection.
He added that another influence was negative feedback from a group of parents of older children but that parents of younger children were seeing the improvements brought in by the new leadership team.
He said: “The parents of younger children are seeing the impact of the new leadership but we must continue to engage all parents.
“The new leadership is very positive and were are on an upward direction of travel.”
Among the comments by the inspector were:
(Since the last inspection) the trust has since appointed a new leadership team. The team recognised the areas where the school needed to improve. Its relentless work has had a positive impact.
Pupils know the school values: ‘Ready, Respectful, Safe’.
The school has made improvements to the curriculum. Pupils are starting to respond to the higher aspirations that the school
has for their learning. These are helping to improve pupils’ achievement across subjects.
Pupils have access to a range of wider opportunities. Many educational visits take place in the local area. Pupils also take on positions of responsibility, such as becoming members of the student council or play leaders.
Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported.
Pupils understand the expectations of conduct and behaviour (and they) value the rewards they receive in recognition of their hard work.
Relationships between the school and some parents and carers are fragile. This is due to the many changes that have happened over recent years. However, parents and carers of those in younger year groups are more positive about the school’s work.
The school has a secure and robust focus on what needs to improve. Its efforts, together with a dedicated staff team and effective trust, are beginning to have a positive impact.
The inspectors detailed a three point plan for further improvement, including work to be done on attendance.