Ofsted orders improvements at Grayrigg school

7:00pm Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Steven Bell, Senior Reporter

Grayrigg CE School Grayrigg CE School

ONE of South Lakeland’s smallest schools has been ordered to make ‘significant improvements’ by the education watchdog.

Ofsted graded Grayrigg CE School, near Kendal, as ‘inadequate’ overall and said it found weaknesses in leadership, management and teaching after a summer inspection.

Inspector Jean Kendall reported that there were insufficient systems in place relating to monitoring, reviewing and planning to enable improvements at the 35-pupil school.

Teaching quality was scored ‘satisfactory’, with standards declining since the last inspection in 2007 and children’s achievements in writing ‘lagging behind’ those in reading and maths.

Improvements have also been ordered in Early Years provision to enable reception-age children to make more rapid progress.

Ms Kendall said: “Leadership and management at all levels are inadequate because improvement planning is not followed through with sufficient rigour and a small but significant minority of parents and carers find communication with the school difficult.”

Head Denise Gallagher was unavailable for comment but a statement from the governors read: “The school has had a very challenging 18 months in terms of staff shortage and governing body changes and this has impacted greatly on the areas highlighted.

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“Everyone at the school is totally committed to bringing about the required improvements.”

But the report did praise ‘some good teaching’, identified pupils’ behaviour as being consistently good and said a previously disrupted governing body was developing ‘strongly’.

Comments(11)

tictoc1 says...
12:28pm Thu 27 Sep 12

This school has had a problem for years! It's about time something was done to improve it!

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Quillie says...
5:33pm Thu 27 Sep 12

Sadly I had to move my children out of Grayrigg School as I could see that it was going down hill, seems I made the right decision after all, hope for the children of Grayrigg School things will finally improve.

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Hip flask says...
6:28pm Thu 27 Sep 12

My children attended this school and sadly the governors would not listen to us parents when we voiced our concerns , I didn't realise how bad the quality of education was till they moved to a new primary and then having to catch up , thank goodness the problems have been recognised

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Chococofflakes10 says...
12:09pm Fri 28 Sep 12

This type of thing happens a lot in small schools and sadly nothing much is done about it. The impact it has on staff is terrible and sadly many good teachers leave the profession because of poor management.

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Whinfell Walker says...
12:49pm Fri 28 Sep 12

My child attends the school and I can honestly say I am shocked by the above comments.

After reading the Ofsted report (maybe the above should do?) it is very clear that the short comings are due to staff shortages and the outgoing governors. My child has not been affected by any poor teaching or communication from the school and is doing very well. The school has always listened to and reacted positively to any concerns we may have had with my child. Grayrigg school is a great little school which turns out well rounded students which we are all proud of in the local area.

It may be for the best that these parents have moved from the school as I am sure they will not be happy in whatever they do. However, it’s funny how these parents have moved their children from the school but are still more than happy to come school events that happen throughout the year!

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Blackjack4 says...
3:33pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Having read the Ofsted report in full, it seems 'a small but significant minority' are hell bent on bringing a good school to it's knees! Shame on you.

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kendalwasgreat says...
4:19pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Whinfell Walker wrote:
My child attends the school and I can honestly say I am shocked by the above comments.

After reading the Ofsted report (maybe the above should do?) it is very clear that the short comings are due to staff shortages and the outgoing governors. My child has not been affected by any poor teaching or communication from the school and is doing very well. The school has always listened to and reacted positively to any concerns we may have had with my child. Grayrigg school is a great little school which turns out well rounded students which we are all proud of in the local area.

It may be for the best that these parents have moved from the school as I am sure they will not be happy in whatever they do. However, it’s funny how these parents have moved their children from the school but are still more than happy to come school events that happen throughout the year!
Well said Whinfell Walker, my two children went to Grayrigg under this same head teacher and they have both gone on to university, the school in my opinion is fantastic and has produced some great scholars.

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Julia Heath says...
9:57pm Fri 28 Sep 12

The most shocking thing about all of the above comments both good and bad is that they are all made by people who are not brave enough to put their names to their comments.
I have removed my children from Grayrigg School with good reasons which are specific to the personal needs of my children, that said it does not follow that the school is not a good environment for other children especially if the issues raised in the recent ofsted report are being addressed and an improvement is being seen. Winfell walker, I am one of the parents who support the school inspite of removing my children and intend to continue as I have good friends who's children attend the school and who are very dear to us,and anyone who knows me will understand the situation that this often puts me in, does this not tell you something?
Julia Heath

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funnyhunny says...
9:11pm Sat 29 Sep 12

My child attends this school and she is doing brilliantly, the school has reacted admirably to the ofsted following what has obviously been a tricky few years, the staff and governors are holding regular forums with parents keeping us informed of the changes and we are all working together to support our little village school.

The head and her staff care for the children and do everything in their power to help them achieve their dreams and believe in themselves. It should also be pointed out that the children do go on to do well currently both head boy and head girl at QKS are past Grayrigg Pupils.

Yes the ofsted wasn't good but it's old news (why report it now!!!) and we all know that the next few months will be exciting as Grayrigg addresses the issues but continues to be the caring nurturing place it always has been!!

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Horseshoer says...
7:35pm Sun 30 Sep 12

My son has just spent the last year of his primary school education at Grayrigg
School, this time has prepared him well for his transition to secondary school, I firmly believe it is down to the care and compassion of the teaching and support staff as well as the friendly well rounded pupils within the school.

Ofsted seems to miss this fact and are more interested in box ticking paperwork.

Thankyou very much for your outstanding work Grayrigg School.

Angus Wiseman.

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Chococofflakes10 says...
3:44pm Wed 10 Oct 12

Horseshoer wrote:
My son has just spent the last year of his primary school education at Grayrigg
School, this time has prepared him well for his transition to secondary school, I firmly believe it is down to the care and compassion of the teaching and support staff as well as the friendly well rounded pupils within the school.

Ofsted seems to miss this fact and are more interested in box ticking paperwork.

Thankyou very much for your outstanding work Grayrigg School.

Angus Wiseman.
We have some absolutely fantastic primary schools in Cumbria and we should be proud of that, but I think there is a definite lack of training in management skills for teachers who become heads and this is something that needs to be addressed urgently.

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