Agenda item - School OFSTED Presentation

48.1    The Head of Education, Standards and Achievements provided an update on schools which had recently been inspected by Ofsted.

48.2    The Committee were advised that nine schools had been inspected since the last meeting of the Committee. Of those schools seven had retained their ‘Good’ rating, and two had moved to ‘Requires Improvement’. The schools rated as ‘Good’ were: St Pauls’ CE Primary School, St Joseph’s RC Primary, Cottesmore St Mary’s RC Primary, Coldean Primary, Brighton & Hove Pupil Referral Unit, Westdene Primary and Patcham High School. The schools rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ were Balfour Primary School and Homewood College.  Balfour Primary’s outcome had been a surprise, but had been expected for Homewood College. Both of those schools had a clear post-Ofsted plan, and steps were already in place to address the issues raised in the inspection.

48.3    Councillor Wealls referred to Balfour Primary and noted that often inspections were data led, and asked if the data had flagged up any issues prior to the inspection which had been discussed with Council. The Head of Education, Standards and Achievements said that there would always be conversations with schools, but the inspection would not have been solely on any data. The Assistant Director, Education & Skills added that as well as looking at data, Ofsted would also speak with the Head Teacher, staff, pupils etc during the inspection.

48.4    Councillor Phillips noted that Balfour Primary had an overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’, and asked if there were any areas within the inspection where the school received a higher rating. The Head of Education, Standards and Achievements said that there were four key areas in an inspection and three of those were rated as ‘Good’, with only Outcomes being assessed as ‘Requires Improvement’.

48.5    Councillor Taylor said that he was a governor at Balfour Primary, and it had hugely disappointing to have been downgraded. However, the leadership team were reviewing the report and addressing the issues raised. Councillor Taylor suggested that it would be useful to have sight of the reports prior to the Committee meeting. The Chair agreed that that could be done.

48.6    Councillor Penn noted the Ofsted were focusing on all pupils at a school, and so it was important that the Authority were ambitious for all children in the city. 

48.7    Councillor Druitt noted that the outcome of the Ofsted inspection was unforeseen, and asked if there was a way of anticipating results for other schools. The Head of Education, Standards and Achievements said that the Council were usually good at predicting outcomes, and although the decision of Balfour Primary was a surprise there had been some close judgements made by Ofsted.

48.8    RESOLVED: That the update be noted.