Forum Topic

Belmont Primary School new Ofsted rating now: Good

To the parents of children at Belmont Primary School,I was very surprised to see the recent Ofsted rating at Belmont Primary being downgraded to Good from Outstanding. Surprised as it has held such a great reputation and high regard for many years. Also the report didn't really give much detail on why... The comments still sounded excellent!What are your thoughts on the new rating for those with children currently attending? Surprised? Or was this expected?I myself have a 3 year old who may be in the catchment for next year's intake so keen to know what people's opinions are!Thanks,Kyle

Kyle Harrison ● 1637d1 Comments

Not a parent but a professional interest.The ‘outstanding’ judgement was made following the last full inspection fourteen years ago! The framework for inspection has undergone various iterations since then. And the bar is certainly higher than it was then. The comments in the report are very positive. There will always be some parents who will either have excessive expectations or who are miffed because of some school arrangement or policy which they don’t like.At Belmont..Safeguarding is effective.Teaching is strong.Behaviour is good.Teachers have high expectations of pupils They provide a broad and rich curriculum.It seems a teacher missed an opportunity to identify an opportunity to identify some previous knowledge in a ‘ learning session’ otherwise known as a lesson.Please do not put too much emphasis on an Ofsted judgement coming down on the side of a good or outstanding finding.I am also familiar with some  schools ( not Belmont, I hasten to add) that have been rated outstanding by Ofsted but that the Local Authority had concerns over although the LA had very limited power to intervene.

Stewart Jones ● 1637d