Wolverhampton primary must improve, Ofsted insists

A primary school has been told it needs to improve after Ofsted threw out its complaints over the way in which an inspection was handled.

Perton Middle School was inspected by the watchdog in June, but publication of the report was delayed after senior leaders complained it did not accurately reflect the progress made by the school.

Last week Ofsted published the report in its original form. It gave the school the second lowest rating overall of grade 3, branding the quality of teaching as 'not good enough' and criticising senior leaders for not establishing high expectations of achievement. The 297-pupil school in Gainsborough Drive had been given the same rating following its previous inspection in June 2013.

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In a letter sent out to parents last week, executive headteacher Alun Harding wrote: "As you know the report publication has been delayed for some time.

"This was as a consequence of a complaint by the school about the way in which the inspection was conducted and the way in which we feel that the report does not accurately reflect the very significant progress made by the school and the students over the past two years. Whilst the overall finding is that the school 'requires improvement', we are very proud of the fact that the inspection team found that behaviour and safety of the students was 'good'.

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"In the meantime please be assured that the school is working hard at ensuring that we continue to improve and that we utilise the significant skills and knowledge of the staff at our disposal."

The report said the quality of teaching required improvement because some teachers did not set consistently high expectations and did not challenge students. Students at the school were making the progress expected of them, according to the report, although too few students exceeded expectations. The report noted that after-school 'master classes' had been brought in to help the most-able Year 6 students to reach better standards in reading writing and maths.

A number of strengths were noted in the report. Students were said to enjoy school and show 'polite and courteous' behaviour, while staff for praised for keeping youngsters 'safe and secure'.

The school's curriculum was also praised for featuring a range of topics, with students said to benefit from educational visits, after-school clubs and residential trips.

The school is part of the Codsall High Federation of Schools.