Wolverhampton spot inspection school rated 'good'

Rakegate Primary School in Oxley has been rated as 'good' following an Ofsted inspection on June 20 and 21, having previously been told it needed to improve.

It was visited during a spate of 13 'spot' inspections conducted by the education watchdog in a bid to find the reasons behind the city's flagging education provision.

The swoop was undertaken after it emerged Wolverhampton has the lowest number of outstanding primary schools of any local authority in the country.

In the report, Rakegate is praised for having successfully tackled a number of key areas for improvement that were highlighted during its last inspection in October 2012.

Now senior leaders at the school have hailed Ofsted's findings as evidence that quality education does exist in the city.

Cllr Ian Claymore, the school's chair of governors, said: "There has been a lot of criticism levelled against schools in the city but this is proof that it is possible to vastly improve standards in a relatively short space of time.

"We hear our schools are not doing well, but this is proof that high quality education is on offer in Wolverhampton."

Rakegate was praised in all four key areas of pupil achievement, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

In her report, lead inspector Marilyn Mottram, noted pupil achievement had continued to rise across all areas since the previous inspection.

She wrote: "Pupils achieve well. They make good progress from starting points that are below those seen nationally."

She added higher standards of teaching had directly impacted pupils' 'sustained progress'.

The lead inspector also praised the school's 'caring and supportive atmosphere' and noted a marked improvement in attendance over the past two years.

During the visit 18 lessons were observed and meetings were held with governors, senior leaders, teachers and parents.

The school in Rakegate Close, Oxley, caters for 440 pupils aged between three and 11.

Cllr Claymore added: "This is a big improvement and something that everyone connected with the school is very proud of.

"The achievement has been down to teamwork involving the staff, the governing body and elected members who have supported our plan to make Rakegate a good school."

The school moved to its current buildings in 2008 having previously been based in Renton Road.

Ofsted spokeswoman Kim Tran said the inspections had been initiated 'to help us understand why children in Wolverhampton have a much lower chance of attending a good or better school compared to other children in England'.

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