Marked improvement for 'special measures' school

Teachers and district council praised by Ofsted for improvments to Calcot Junior School

A CALCOT school has received praise following a third monitoring session since it became subject to special measures.

Ofsted inspectors visited Calcot Junior School in Curtis Road on March 30 and 31, and have now published their findings which deem the school as having made good progress.

Previously failing areas, such as pupils' attainment and accelerating progress, quality of leadership and management, were all deemed to have improved.

The inspector also observed that behaviour in lessons and around the school was admirable and that older pupils were very positive role models.

The school fell into special measures in November 2009 and upon setting itself challenging targets, it appointed a new headteacher, Karen Sawyer, who is also the headteacher of the infant school located on the same campus, in September 2010 to oversee their delivery.

She said: “We are delighted with the report which clearly shows that we are heading in the right direction to come out of special measures.

“The improvements are due to the huge commitment shown by both staff and pupils to making our school the best it can possibly be.

“We will continue to put all our efforts into achieving this and I would like to thank everyone who has been working to make this happen.”

It is anticipated that the school may have one further monitoring visit in the summer and then a full re-inspection in the autumn term.

West Berkshire Council also received praise for supporting the school.

Ian Pearson, the head of education at West Berkshire Council, said: “I am confident that if the school keeps progressing as it is, then it will soon be out of special measures and have a well deserved ‘good' rating.”