Interim management appointed to improve Thatcham school performance
In March the school in Sagecroft Road was placed on the Government’s list of schools in special measures following an Ofsted inspection.
Then, about a month ago, the governing body resigned and the headteacher, Joan Blofeld, followed on the Thursday before the summer half-term holidays.
They have now been replaced by an Interim Executive Board, appointed for a temporary period, and a new interim headteacher, Mrs Fiona Hims, who was the headteacher at Hydesville Tower School, Walsall.
Kennet School headteacher Paul Dick has been appointed as the chairman of the executive board after being approached by the local education authority, West Berkshire Council.
He said: “I’m determined that Whitelands will be among the best primary schools in West Berkshire quite quickly.
“I’m confident that that can be done. I want the pupils and teachers to enjoy lessons every day and I want the community to feel the benefit of that.”
He added: “I am delighted to have been asked to take the lead among the governors at Whitelands Park.
“My first impressions are one of a pupil body and a group of staff who are keen to excel and have the capacity to do that.
“I look forward to working with Whitelands and its community, long into the future, to the benefit of the children.”
Mrs Hims said: “I have enjoyed such a warm and friendly welcome from the Whitelands Park School community and I am delighted to have been chosen to lead this school forward in the next part of its journey.
“I am confident that we can provide a rich learning experience for all our children, and continue to develop a strong home-school partnership.”
The Thatcham school was deemed to be overall “inadequate” as the inspector said that the pupils did not achieve well enough, that the teachers did not make sure that the work was at the right level for the pupils, that the pupils were not always engaged and interested by lessons and that the governing body had not done enough to challenge senior leaders about the school’s performance.
It had fallen to being inadequate from being satisfactory in its previous inspection last year.