One PRIVATE school was deemed “inadequate” by Ofsted following an inspection.
The Brighton and Hove Montesorri school was demoted from good to poor after inspectors visited in October.
Ofsted Inspector Lucy English visited the small independent school on Stanford Avenue in Brighton, which has only 35 students.
His report highlighted a number of areas, saying “basic processes, including those relating to safeguarding, and a range of independent school standards have not been maintained.”
She says student experiences are varied, with older students being carefully guided to secure their learning in a wide range of subjects.
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Younger students like to explore the resources on offer, but they are not supported to effectively develop their knowledge, especially in reading.
Ms. English acknowledged that the staff are nice and the children are happy, that they feel in a caring community and uphold the values of respect.
She said: “They are adamant that there is no bullying or mean behavior because they are taught to be inclusive and considerate.
“They don’t know that some of the staff have poor knowledge of backup procedures.”
Ms English says that a lack of ambition can be seen for reading for the younger ones, but that it is a strength for the elementary grades.
Protection is a big issue for the school, inspectors found staff’s knowledge of protection to be poor, inspectors said.
Some staff did not know who the protection officer was and statutory guidelines are not followed by leaders in terms of risk assessment for parent volunteers.
In order to improve, staff and managers need to ensure that backup requirements are met by all and a better understanding of backup needs to be developed.
Leadership is reportedly confused and the improvements undertaken following the December 2019 inspection have not been maintained or followed through.
She notes the pandemic is listed as a reason some changes weren’t made, but says these are “continuing requirements.”
Students are believed to be conscientious, ask permission before kissing, and are able to reflect on their own perspectives.
Ms English also said the leadership confusion needs to be resolved and made clearer, and the Children’s House staff need better leadership to ensure they are more ambitious for their students.
She said the owner, Ms Daisy Cockburn, who is also a school principal, does not have a system in place to ensure independent school standards are consistently met.
It apparently did not maintain the improvements or implement the plans noted in the December 2019 progress monitoring inspection.
Ms Cockburn needs to establish a process by which she can be assured that all standards are being met, Ms English says.
Ms English and her colleague Kathryn Moles visited the school in October and the official report has now been released.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-12-13 05:01:00
