Previously 'outstanding' Shrewsbury school told it must improve by inspectors

At their previous inspection in 2008 the school was rated as ‘outstanding’.

Now the school says that they want to become ‘outstanding’ again as soon as possible, and have already begun work to address the areas for improvement identified by Ofsted inspectors.

In the Ofsted report inspectors ruled that ‘personal development’ and ‘behaviour and attitudes’ are both ‘good’.

However they found that the ‘quality of teaching’, ‘leadership and management’, and ‘early years provision’ all ‘requires improvement’. They rated the school as ‘requires improvement’ overall.

Although inspectors raised a number of concerns, their report found that pupils are happy, like learning, behave well, feel safe in school and know where to go for help.

Inspectors also found that arrangements for safeguarding are ‘effective’ and there is a lot of support in place for children who need it.

Priorities

Caroline Gardner, headteacher at St Giles C of E Primary School, said: “Whilst we are disappointed with the outcome of the inspection, we were already aware of the improvements needed to meet the increased expectations of the new Inspection Framework which was introduced in September.

"School improvement plans were already in place last year and actions started to address some of these issues.

“We are really pleased that Ofsted recognised our focus on social and emotional well-being for our pupils and the positive impact this has.

"Our priorities in recent years have been linked to improving outcomes for all pupils in reading, writing and maths and all statutory data at the end of 2018-19 was in line with or above national and local outcomes.

“As a school community, we understand the need to make changes and look forward to the opportunities this will bring for us all – staff, governors, parents and children.”

Karen Bradshaw, director of children’s services with Shropshire Council, said: “Shropshire Council wants our children to receive the best possible education.

"We’re pleased that the headteacher, staff and governors have already begun work to address the priorities for improvements in the Ofsted report and we will continue to support the school to ensure that pupils have consistently good opportunities to learn and to fulfil their potential.”

The two-day inspection took place on October 1-2. Three inspectors observed lessons, held discussions with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, teaching staff, and pupils, and reviewed a range of documentation. Inspectors focused on reading, writing, maths and history and scrutinised pupil’s work.