Bridgnorth school celebrates Good rating after 'period of significant turbulence'

Corbett Voluntary Aided CE Primary School in Bridgnorth acquired a new headteacher in June last year.

But in a visit by Ofsted last month, the education watchdogs were impressed with changes at the school, which inspectors described as “a caring school that pupils enjoy attending”.

In her report, which is out on Friday, Rachel Henrick, lead inspector, said: “The school is emerging from a period of significant turbulence. Stable leadership is now in place and many positive changes are being made.”

The report went on: “The curriculum for mixed-age classes has been carefully considered. The essential knowledge the school wants its pupils to know and remember is clearly set out.”

She praised the school's mathematics teaching and said the governors were “very supportive of new leadership and recent changes”.

She also praised the school's “culture of safeguarding”.

However, the inspector noted: “A new phonics programme has recently been introduced. At times, it is not delivered in the way the school intends. This hinders some pupils in building the skills they need to become confident, fluent readers.

“The school should ensure that the staff receive the right support to deliver the phonics programme as intended, and that they develop their systems for checking how the phonics programme is implemented.”

Headteacher Mrs Emma Jones said the school was “delighted” with the recent report.

She said: “The inspectors concluded that Corbett (VA) CE Primary School continues to be a Good school and there were many areas to celebrate.

“We are pleased to read about the engaging and effective delivery of maths and that our relatively new schemes of work across the wider curriculum are ensuring the children have the essential knowledge they need. This is an area we look forward to continuing to develop and enrich, helping children to continue to build on their learning over time.

“The inspectors were very thorough in their assessment of all aspects of school life. The inspection included deep dives into various subjects, lesson visits, discussion with leaders, staff, children, parents and governors and they reviewed documentation provided by the school. More of what inspectors looked at can be found within the official report.”

She added that the inspectors acknowledged that the school has been through a significant time of turbulence and that staffing instability has been challenging.

“This has meant that there are still some areas that we need to work on and improve. We welcome this feedback and are already working to keep improving the school and our systems,” she said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, governors, and all of our parents and carers for your continuing support and feedback. There is much to look forward to in the future of the school, with the children always being at the heart of all we do.”