Braintree primary school out of special measures
The Richard de Clare Community Academy is now rated 'good'
A primary school which was put into special measures after an inspection found safeguarding concerns were not being followed up has now been given a “good” rating by an education watchdog.
In a new inspection report published last week (May 17), Ofsted said there is now a “warm” relationship between staff and students at Richard de Clare Community Academy, Halstead, and that pupils said there is no longer any bullying.
It said leadership at the Braintree school, which cares for 353 children between three and 11-years-old, was now secure, with a permanent headteacher in place who is supported by colleagues from the Bridge Academy Trust, which it joined in April 2021.
This latest full inspection took place in March 2022 and is the school’s first since the 2019 inspection which resulted in it being put into special measures and given an “inadequate” rating.
According to the 2019 report, inspectors previously found “serious” physical incidents, and that parents and pupils had raised concerns about poor behaviour and bullying.
Headteacher Lucinda Bellett said in a statement: “We were so thrilled to welcome OFSTED into Richard de Clare Community Academy in March to show them the hard work that has been taking place to move the school forward.
“The grading that RdC is now a ‘good’ school is what the staff and wider school community have been working so hard to achieve over the past three years. The report reads beautifully and one of the most touching sentences for me as the headteacher is that our pupils describe their school as ‘brilliant’. They have noticed all the positive changes happening in their school over the years.
“I cannot thank our children, parents and wider school community enough for their continued support, which has contributed to the ‘good’ rating. The outcome, of course, would not have been possible without a tremendous amount of hard work from all involved.
“The staff here have worked, and continue to work, tirelessly each and every day to ensure a quality education for our pupils. This, and the support provided by Bridge Academy Trust, has been essential in securing the ‘good’ judgement that the school and its wider community so deserve.”
Ms Bellett continued to say systems and procedures for safeguarding and site security had been improved and a bespoke curriculum had been implemented since the last inspection.
According to the 2019 report, pupils told inspectors swearing and physical incidents happened “on a daily basis” and gave examples of pushing, punching and kicking.
Inspectors also found a high number of incidents recorded by supervisors were not passed on to and followed up by leaders.
Less than half of pupils leaving the school at the time of the previous inspection were meeting expected standards in reading, writing and maths, according to the 2019 report.
But according to the latest report, now there is little poor behaviour and pupils enjoy attending the school and work hard there.
Concerns are followed through “comprehensively” and staff are kept up to date with safeguarding through regular training.
The curriculum is well planned and pupils are doing well in English and maths, reading and writing at length with detail and interest.
However, the 2022 report did say opportunities to develop early writing skills are limited, with the school receiving a rating of “requires improvement” in the category of “early years provision”.
Ms Bellett said in the statement: “We recognise that there is still work to be done around improving the opportunities some of our youngest pupils have to demonstrate their writing.
“Since the inspection, we have been busy adapting and enhancing indoor and outdoor provision to provide these opportunities and have reviewed the way in which we teach early writing.”
Since just after the 2019 inspection, the school has had an independent intervention board and two of the three members remained on the board under the new multi-academy trust.
Plans are in place to replace this group with a local governing body, according to the 2022 report.
Between the two inspections, there were two monitoring inspections and two other visits from inspectors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school was previously part of the North Essex Multi-Academy Trust, which it joined in 2016.