Governors have vowed to stand by the headteacher of a school condemned by inspectors for ‘swiftly deteriorating’ to become a failing school.
Aylward Primary School in Pangbourne Drive, Stanmore, received the highest ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted in 2010 but in May, under the same headteacher Moira Arnold, the school was handed the lowest ‘inadequate’ grading and was put into special measures.
Ofsted’s report, published in June, said: “Since the previous inspection, the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress has declined rapidly because senior leaders have not taken sufficient action to sustain high standards.
“Teaching is not consistently good, particularly in years 3 and 4; leaders are not improving it quickly enough. Governors do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities and do not effectively hold leaders to account for the school’s performance.”
The behaviour and safety of the children was judged ‘good’ but the school’s leadership and management were branded ‘inadequate’.
Ofsted said: “Leaders have not been effective in maintaining good teaching or achievement, both of which have swiftly deteriorated since the previous inspection.“Senior leaders do not use achievement information effectively to track and analyse the progress of the different groups of pupils and assess whether the support given to them is having the desired effect.”
Catherine Doran, Harrow Council’s corporate director of children and families, said: “We are disappointed with the outcome of this Ofsted inspection. We have been aware that this school has needed extra support and they have been working with the council to improve its standards. We are confident that further progress will be made over the next few months and the school are working with us, and the Department for Education, to look at future options.”
The KS2 provisional results for this year were: reading: 91 per cent of pupils scored level 4 and above, with 46 per cent scoring level 5 and above; maths: 91 per cent of pupils score level 4 and above with 62 per cent scoring level 5 and above, while 9 per cent scored level 6.
Ms Doran added: “The provisional results for the school this year are exceptionally good, just as the school predicted. I am absolutely delighted that the school has already turned a corner and demonstrated that they can rapidly improve.”
Chairman of governors Marcello Borgese said: “The governing body, which includes parent representation has complete faith in the staff of Aylward Primary School, including the headteacher.
“The most recent results, which were published yesterday, prove that this confidence is rooted in evidence of good outcomes for current and future pupils.”
