West Bromwich primary school praised for making 'effective progress'
A primary school has been praised for making 'effective progress' after it was criticised by an education watchdog for its decline in performance earlier this year.
King George V Primary School, in West Bromwich, was rated as requiring improvement by Ofsted in March.
A monitoring inspection took place at the school earlier this month, with senior leaders and governors praised for tackling the areas in need of improvement.
Ofsted had deemed the school as requiring improvement in six of its inspection categories.
Officers said that there was 'instability' in senior leadership for the last two years, which was resulting in some areas of the school’s performance declining.
The quality of teaching in the early years and Key Stage 1 was noted as being 'not yet consistently good'.
However, the then acting headteacher was praised for working hard to halt the decline in standards and that the curriculum was inspiring to pupils.
But now six months on, officials say that they are happy with senior leaders and governors at the Beeches Road school.
In a official letter issued last week, it reads: "Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.
"Since the previous inspection, the headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed permanently.
"Systems for evaluating the quality of teaching have been improved. Following regular visits to lessons and checks on the quality of work in pupils’ books, leaders provide incisive feedback to teachers on how to refine their practice.
"The school has been ordered to take further action by continuing to improve teaching in Key Stage 1 by making sure that teachers plan work that is challenging, ensure that all governors provide an effective and professional level of support and streamline the school improvement plan so that leaders and governors can easily evaluate the progress of the 'most important priorities' for improvement."
Sarah Penny, headteacher, spoke of her delight at the school's success.
She said: "I am delighted with the positive report from HMI. It is our uncompromising vision to ensure that all pupils at King George V receive the best learning experience possible. The success so far has been achieved by working in partnership with all stakeholders and local schools. Much progress has been made, but as a school we recognise there that there is more work to be done and look forward with enthusiasm to the future."
