A primary school previously judged to be ‘outstanding’ has three years later been found to be failing to provide children with good teaching according to a report from the education inspectorate Ofsted.

Roxbourne Primary School, in Torbay Road, Harrow, was inspected in June by Nina Bee, who along with her team judged the school to ‘require improvement’, Ofsted’s second-worst rating, when in 2011 the body awarded the school with its highest rating.

The report notes:

  1. Too few pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2
  2. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 have previously underachieved and currently do not receive consistently good teaching
  3. More-able pupils in Key Stage 2 are not always given challenging activities to reach the highest levels of attainment
  4. Teaching requires improvement. In some classes in Key Stages 1 and 2, teachers do not always plan activities which are at the right level for pupils
  5. Pupils’ learning is not consistently checked as lessons progress. Pupils at times become restless because they are unsure of what to do
  6. Teachers’ marking does not allow all pupils to see what they need to do, to improve and reach their targets
  7. Behaviour and safety require improvement
  8. Staff do not promote good attitudes to learning when lessons start late

Mrs Bee adds: “Leaders and managers are monitoring teaching and learning. However, the system for checking the quality of teaching is not rigorous enough. As a result, there is not enough good teaching and occasionally it is inadequate.”

Headteacher Jane Frankau, who was also in charge in 2011 during the school’s previous, glowing inspection which said that the school was an environment in which ‘pupils flourish both socially and academically’, oversaw the infant school expand its age range to become a fully-fledged primary in 2013.