A headteacher has spoken of her shock and sadness after her primary school was placed in special measures.
Summerseat Methodist Primary School, in Bury, was rated inadequate by Ofsted inspectors following a visit earlier this year.
The school, in Rowlands Road, has 92 pupils on the roll, and was rated 'Good' for behaviour and attitudes, and personal development.
However, it was found to require improvement in early years provision, and received an inadequate grade for quality of education, and leadership and management.
Inspectors reported that pupils at the school failed to thrive academically and that 'the quality of education across the school in most subjects is poorly organised and often not well thought out'.
They added that 'many teachers do not have the subject knowledge to teach many areas of the curriculum' and that leaders and governors had not done enough to address the weakenesses.
In a statement, the school said: “Our school underwent an Ofsted inspection on the 10th and 11th March 2020 and was judged to require Special Measures.
“Staff and the Governing Body were saddened and shocked by the overall outcome, as we feel that the inspection report does not accurately reflect the experience that the children have in our school."
"The school was inspected under a new framework, introduced in September 2019, which places greater emphasis on the quality of education through the curriculum offered to pupils.
"The report recognises our strengths in the behaviour, attitudes and personal development of our pupils; these areas were judged good.”
The report noted that the headteacher, chair of governors and early years leader took up post in September 2019, while the deputy headteacher has been seconded to another school from January 2020.
It adds: “Since September 2019, three quarters of classes are being led by new teachers.”
The inspector said: “A period of significant staffing change has had a negative impact on all pupils’ achievement, including those pupils with SEND. Staffing has been stabilised recently, but there is still much work to be done to improve teachers’ subject expertise.”
Summerseat Methodist is now required to become an academy through joining a Multi Academy Trust.
Headteacher Julie Whittaker said: “We are proud of our children. The inspection report highlights that children are safe and enjoy coming to our small friendly school.
“Whilst we have challenged the report with Ofsted we do recognise that there is further work to do in developing the deep and rich curriculum across all subjects.
“This has been the main focus since my arrival in September and we are determined to continue to drive the journey of improvement for the children of this wonderful community school.”
