Canonbury Primary School is placed in ‘special measures’
Published: 18 June 2010
by RÓISÍN GADELRAB
CANONBURY Primary School is worse off now than when it was led by sacked headteacher Jay Henderson, according to Ofsted inspectors.
An emergency action plan has been forced on the troubled school after Ofsted officially placed it in “special measures” last week. As the Tribune exclusively revealed in April, Canonbury, traditionally the pick of Islington’s elite – Boris Johnson and Lord Adonis have both sent their children there – was rated “inadequate” in a recent report, which was finally published on Thursday.
And in a statement that will be certain to make waves, the report says: “The lack of a substantive headteacher for an extended period of time has had a negative impact on the school’s development and it is now in a worse position than when it was last inspected.”
The last inspection was in 2006, before Mr Henderson was dismissed.
The report gave Canonbury the lowest possible score for overall effectiveness and “capacity for sustained improvement”.
It said the school “is failing to give pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement”.
It did praise new headteacher Matt Britt – who had only been in the job for two weeks when inspectors arrived – for “very quickly and accurately identifying key weaknesses” but said he “has not had time to get to grips with them”.
It continued: “The relatively new governing body has moved quickly to address some of the most pressing issues, such as appointing a substantive headteacher and ensuring safeguarding procedures are now in place.”
Mr Britt told parents in a letter on Thursday he was determined Canonbury would “quickly become one of the best schools in the borough”.
As required by Ofsted, Mr Britt had five days to adapt the school’s action plan, a copy of which was sent to parents. He has already instigated an entire staff restructuring, cutting up to 30 temporary teaching posts and has taken on two deputy heads.
Mr Britt has promised to ensure high-quality teaching, bringing in tighter progress monitoring of pupils, and has begun a programme of refurbishment.
The school could be inspected up to five times over the next two years.
Canonbury has had a troubled few years, first hitting the headlines when former headteacher Jay Henderson was sacked after it emerged that correct procedures had not been followed in the recruitment of teaching staff. It was followed by teacher Robert Stringer being suspended after it was discovered that he was facing investigation for child sex offences at a different primary school outside the borough. He died in a fatal car crash in February, on the eve of his trial.
In the letter to parents sent out last week, Mr Britt said: “I want to reassure you that the school is already on a path to dramatic improvement.”
Islington Council’s schools chief Councillor Richard Watts said: “Despite a turbulent period for Canonbury School, their 2009 key stage 2 results were above the national average in all measures. I’m confident that with the support of governors and Ofsted, Canonbury will be able to make the necessary improvements so it can be removed from special measures as soon as possible.”