Head leaves school in "special measures"

Headteacher of The Clere school in north Hampshire has resigned

THE HEADTEACHER of The Clere secondary school in Burghclere has resigned and an interim headteacher appointed until half-term.

The Clere was recently the subject of a critical Ofsted report which has now put the school into special measures.

Sarah Rogers, the former headteacher of the school in Earlstone Common, Burghclere, resigned from the post this week, the interim headteacher Jonathan de Sausmarez confirmed this morning (Friday).

Mr de Sausmarez, who took over the post on Wednesday (February 1), today confirmed to newburytoday his appointment as interim headteacher until half term, following which time another interim headteacher would be appointed by the local education authority, Hampshire County Council.

“I've been very impressed by the response from teachers and students and their willingness to overcome this challenge,” said Mr de Sausmarez, adding he had written to parents informing them of the situation and was to hold a parental meeting in due course.

The Ofsted report published recently following an inspection by the education watchdog on December 8 and 9 visit, graded the school as ‘inadequate' overall, placing it in special measures.

It also said the school, which has 690 pupils, needed to make “significant improvement”, and Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

A statement released by the school today (Fri) stated that Ms Rogers would like to thank the pupils, staff, parents and governors for their support and wished The Clere and everyone associated with the school every success for the future.

The statement went on to say that an action plan had been developed to address weaknesses identified by Ofsted inspectors, to improve the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning to ensure pupils' progress was effectively tracked and lessons planned for students of differing abilities.

During the Ofsted inspection at the school, which serves a large rural community, parts of 42 lessons were observed, taught by 39 teachers.

Also given an inadequate marking (grade 4) in the Ofsted report was the quality of teaching, pupils' attainment, the quality of pupils' learning and their progress, along with the quality of learning for pupils with special needs and/or disabilities and their progress.

The effectiveness of leadership at the school was also given an inadequate (grade 4) mark, along with the effectiveness with which the school promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination, and the effectiveness with which the school deploys resources to achieve value for money.

Pupils' behaviour was given a satisfactory (grade 3) marking.

The report stated: “Achievement has declined since the last inspection and students are making inadequate progress. The proportion of Year 11 students achieving five of more GCSE passes at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics, fell to below the national average in 2011.”

To improve, the report continued, inconsistencies in the quality of teaching needed to be eliminated and the overall effectiveness of leadership, management and governance improved, including taking effective action to tackle persistent absence.

Some of the positive remarks about the school, by inspectors, noted that the extent to which pupils feel safe was “good”, as was the extent to which pupils contribute to the school and wider community.

Under the grading for leadership and management, the effectiveness of safeguarding procedures was also said to be “good”, but all other areas were either “satisfactory” or “inadequate”.

The previous Ofsted inspection at the school, a pilot report in 2009, gave the school an overall satisfactory marking (grade 3) while Ms Rogers was headteacher.

Prior to that, in 2006, Ofsted inspectors gave the school an overall good (grade 2) marking, under the acting headship of Rosemary Black, who is currently deputy headteacher at the school.

The Clere school gained specialist technology status in 2003 and was awarded Enhanced Healthy School status in 2011.