Kenley school's leadership branded 'inadequate' by Ofsted

AN OFSTED report has branded leadership at a Kenley school 'inadequate'.

Roke Primary School, in Little Roke Road, was until this week ranked as outstanding for its teaching of ICT following a November 2010 inspection and outstanding across the board after a similar check-up in March 2009.

Roke Primary School head teacher Caroline Phillips says her team has the backing of the council, the school's governors and parents
Roke Primary School head teacher Caroline Phillips says her team has the backing of the council, the school's governors and parents

But it has been given notice to improve by Ofsted after the latest inspection ranked the school "inadequate" for leadership and management and merely "satisfactory" for three remaining categories: achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and behaviour and safety of pupils. Schools are ranked either outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate for each category.

The situation has been deemed so serious that Gordon Smith, principal at nearby school Riddlesdown Collegiate, Purley, has been drafted in to spend half a day every week supporting Roke "to address their challenges".

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In a letter sent to parents of Riddlesdown its chairman of governors Paul Khan said: "Our Academy feels that this is an important piece of work because Roke is a very significant feeder school for us and a valuable part of our local community."

Mr Khan said there would be "no impact on our own improvement work", with the senior vice-principal taking charge while Mr Smith attends Roke.

The poor report means the Kenley school will face a follow-up inspection within the next six to 12 months.

Head teacher Caroline Phillips said: "This is very disappointing. However our team has the backing of the council, the governors and parents at the school.

"We have recognised the areas of weakness and were already working on them before Ofsted came. Therefore we are very confident we shall quickly get back to demonstrating the exceedingly high standards that the inspectors are looking for."

She added she was "pleased" that despite the setback the school was "still seeing results that meet national averages".

A father of a four-year-old pupil at the school, whom the Advertiser agreed not to name, said: "It is a shock. We were very happy when our daughter got a place at Roke because it had such a good reputation.

"Of course as a parent it is a worry.

"Me and my partner hope the situation is sorted out. Of course that's what we want to see."

A "new structure" will be implemented by the start of the next school year in September to clearly define key responsibilities for staff.