Ofsted praise for 'friendly' school

Ofsted has praised a headteacher and his team for making 'substantial improvements' to their school.
Mrs Hadden and Mrs Jaggerhelp Arunside School pupils celebrate their Ofsted reportMrs Hadden and Mrs Jaggerhelp Arunside School pupils celebrate their Ofsted report
Mrs Hadden and Mrs Jaggerhelp Arunside School pupils celebrate their Ofsted report

Arunside Primary School, in Blackbridge Lane, recently underwent its first short inspection since being rated ‘good’ in November 2013.

In her latest report, inspector Julie Sackett told headteacher Rich Roberts: “You and your team have secured substantial improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and behaviour since your appointment in January 2017. Together, you have established a calm, hard-working and friendly atmosphere in the school.”

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Ms Sackett praised the quality of pupils’ work, particularly in maths and reading, saying it illustrated improvements to teaching, with pupils making “strong progress” in those subjects.

She was also impressed with the behaviour of the youngsters, which parents said had undergone a “marked improvement” since Mr Roberts took charge.

She told him: “You have reviewed and updated the school’s rules and values, and have increased teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour. As a result, pupils behave well.

“They enjoy school and are keen to ‘be the best they can be’ – one of the school’s aims.”

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The relationship between staff and children was described as “strong and respectful”, with one pupil saying: “I like the fact that teachers are so supportive. I know that I can always go to speak to them and that they will look after me.”

Ms Sackett said pupils in Key Stage 2 were making much better progress than before as they prepared to head up to secondary school. Standards were seen to be “rising rapidly across the school”.

There were also “notable improvements” in the quality of teaching in early years and Key Stage 1, which she said “resulted in a dramatic increase in pupils’ outcomes”.

Mr Roberts said: “As you can imagine we were thrilled as the report acknowledged the efforts of everyone, notably over the past 16 months.”

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He added: “For me it has been a team effort. Parents have been on board and with my senior leadership team, there has been the terrific support of governors.

“All staff have worked tirelessly to demonstrate we are a rapidly improving school with huge potential.

“I hope this helps us become the school of choice for this part of Horsham and the new reputation glows more brightly.”

To read the report, log on to the Ofsted website.

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