School achieves ‘best outcomes ever’ just weeks after losing ‘good’ Ofsted rating

A school in Oldham has seen its ‘best outcomes ever’ – just weeks after Ofsted removed its ‘good’ rating. 

Mayfield Primary School in Derker was told it ‘requires improvement’ because teaching is ‘not as effective as it could be’. 

But school leaders claim the latest good results came ‘too late’ to factor into the education watchdog’s decision.  

Pupils’ reading proficiency improved to 67 percent – almost double last year’s score – and 73 pc in maths, which is above the national average of 71 pc.

The school, which has just under 400 pupils aged three to 11, was inspected in June.

The recently published report, penned by lead inspector Claire Cropper, highlighted the ‘calm and welcoming’ atmosphere at the school and commented that pupils seemed ‘happy’, ‘polite’ and ‘respectful’. 

But Cropper found issues with the school’s ‘ambitious’ curriculum because ‘not all kids were achieving as well as hoped’.

She also raised concerns about how the school dealt with kids with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Some SEND kids ‘struggled’ because ‘their teachers are unsure how best to support them’.

A spokesperson for Mayfield told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We are very pleased that inspectors saw the many strengths of our school and understand where we need to continue to improve.

“In this year’s national tests our pupils achieved Mayfield’s best outcomes ever in the reading and maths with huge gains being made on our 2023 results.

"It is unfortunate that the inspection took place before 2024 data was published, which shows that our children are now achieving in line with their peers across the country.”

They added that the school has introduced two new leaders at the school to focus on the ‘areas of improvement’ highlighted by inspectors.

“We are proud that Mayfield is an inclusive school and that we welcome all children,” the spokesperson went on.  

“Some come to us with complex special educational needs.

“We are determined to get it right for every child.

"We are completely focused on continuing to improve outcomes for all our children.”

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