Canonbury Primary School goes from ‘failing’ to ‘good’ in a year
Published: 1st July, 2011
by ANDREW JOHNSON
A PRIMARY school judged to be failing less than a year ago has had its turn-around sealed with a glowing report from Ofsted inspectors.
Canonbury Primary School was placed in special measures because of its poor academic achievement and failing leadership in March last year.
The latest inspection, carried out in May, judged the Canonbury school to be “good” and praised the “significant and rapid improvement” which had been “secured by the ambitious leadership and expertise of the headteacher and senior leadership team”.
Headteacher Matt Britt had only been at the school for two weeks at the time of the previous inspection. The school had been without a head for some time, and Ofsted blamed many of its failures on this.
Inspectors found there had been enough improvement by May this year to remove the school from special measures – which meant it was heavily monitored – and give it their second-highest rating.
“Pupils’ achievement is now good,” the report said. “Learning and progress have improved, particularly in reading and mathematics, and are now good in the majority of lessons.
“Due to a range of intervention programmes, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities progress as well as their peers.”
But it added: “Pupils make less progress in writing as not all teachers are using pupils’ individual targets to inform their writing tasks. In a minority of lessons, less able and more able pupils are not always challenged.”
Mr Britt praised the council for its support and paid tribute to staff and pupils.
“A team of non-class-based senior teachers have supported learning across the school and through this leadership support ensured every member of staff knows how to make the best provision for every child,” he said.