School placed in 'special measures' for failing Ofsted inspection

SHOCKED parents and community leaders in Watchet were today coming to terms with news that the town’s Knights Templar First School (pictured) had been placed in ‘special measures’ after failing an Ofsted inspection.
Ofsted inspectors visited the school during November to sit in on classes and sample the learning experience.
But their resulting report in which they declared the school’s academic and teaching standards to be ‘inadequate’ has only just been made public.
Somerset County Council, which spends more than £4 million a year on public relations and other publicity activities, tried to gloss over the news with a press release which talked mainly of how an action plan had been put in place to address the Ofsted concerns.
News of Knights Templar’s poor performance was all the more unexpected because it received a ‘satisfactory’ rating when Ofsted last visited in 2004 together with praise for several significant strengths - although the inspectors pointed to a high proportion of pupils who found learning difficult and that standards were below the national average.
The ‘special measures’ status means Knights Templar will receive regular visits from Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools (HMI) and Ofsted’s school improvement division until it is considered to again be providing an acceptable standard of education.
During the monitoring visits, HMI evaluates the standards being achieved, the progress made by pupils, and the quality of education being provided.
It also assesses the progress made in addressing Ofsted’s key issues.
As well as its criticism of academic and teaching standards, Ofsted also said there were several positive aspects of Knights Templar’s performance.
It said pupil attendance had recently improved and was now considered ‘good’.
The behaviour of pupils had also improved from ‘satisfactory’ when the school was last inspected in 2004 to being ‘good’.
Ofsted also praised the good attention the school provided for pupils’ welfare, and importantly, the inspectors recognised that students felt safe and enjoyed school, and they praised the school’s strong Christian ethos.
The headmaster of the 215-pupil school, Keith Atkins, said: “We accept the findings of our recent Ofsted inspection and we are going to work very hard to address our areas for development.
“We are pleased that the caring ethos of our school was recognised, and the children’s spiritual development and behaviour were identified as good.
“As the new head teacher at Knights Templar, I am pleased that our recent improvement and progress has been recognised.
“We will continue to work together as a team to ensure that we keep developing the school.
“I would like to add my thanks to all the parents who have shown their support of the school during difficult times, and I would like to promise them that we will continue to strive to give their children the best possible start in life.”
Key points of the action plan agreed by the school governors and the county education authority included:

• Building on the recognised improvements the new headmaster had made in the short time he had been in post
• School leaders and staff taking significant steps to address the issues raised by the inspection
• Continuing a strong commitment to addressing the issues effectively and swiftly
• Encouraging a positive ethos within the school
• Governors and staff working closely with the education authority to address key issues

The county’s head of schools and achievement, Judith Richardson, said: “I am convinced that the school and the council have put in place appropriate measures to bring about a swift improvement in the school.”
Council education portfolio holder Councillor Gloria Cawood, who is currently overseeing closure plans for a number of small schools in Somerset, said: “We will be working closely with Knights Templar First School to ensure it moves swiftly out of special measures and improves on the areas identified by Ofsted as needing improvement.”

Daniel lobbies MPs for better school support for diabetes

A MINEHEAD youngster was among more than 200 children and young people who were today lobbying of Parliament to ask MPs to improve support for pupils with diabetes in schools.
Daniel Mote, aged 12, travelled to London as part of a group of 36 youths from the Westcountry to join the Diabetes UK lobby.
The leading health charity is expecting at least 100 MPs to attend the lobby to hear about the inequalities in support for children with diabetes at school.
Although some children are excellently supported to manage their diabetes at school, others are not so lucky.
Some face a heart-breaking struggle, including no access to snacks during class, not being allowed on school trips, and being kept out of lessons unnecessarily.
This can have a directly damaging effect on their quality of life and education, as well as health.
Diabetes UK South West regional manager Jan Tyrrell said: “For every child with diabetes who does not receive appropriate support at school, a whole family suffers.
“We already know that the health and well-being of 83 per cent of children with diabetes is in jeopardy because they are not achieving recommended blood glucose levels, and we must do everything we can to help them.
“Schools have a vital role to play in changing this frightening statistic - and with an estimated 2,000 children being diagnosed with type one diabetes every year in the UK, action must be taken now.
“Diabetes is a serious condition that, if not managed effectively, can lead to long-term complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and amputation.
“Short-term complications of the condition include hypoglycaemic episodes, known as ‘hypos’, can lead to unconsciousness and hospitalisation if left untreated.
“However, effective diabetes management from the time of diagnosis can reduce the risk of these complications.
“This is why giving children the right support to control their condition from an early age is vital to protect their short- and long-term health.
“The Government needs to ensure that pressure comes from the top down to implement existing legislation so local authorities, primary care trusts and schools can work together to have effective policies in place to support children with diabetes – and actually adhere to them.
“Inspections and monitoring will play a vital part in this.
“It is appalling that some children with diabetes in the South West are not getting the support they need to live a full school life.”
To coincide with last week’s World Diabetes Day, Diabetes UK released ‘Making all Children Matter’, a report which looks at the current situation for children with diabetes in schools in England and what needs to be done to ensure they have the same opportunities as every other child.
A copy of the report can be downloaded at www.diabetes.org.uk/makingallchildrenmatter.

Baccalaureate winner Grace becomes UK 'A-level student of the year'

ONE of first students to receive the new award for AQA Baccalaureate was today announced as ‘A-Level Student of the Year 2008’.
Grace Chesterton (pictured), of Nether Stowey, who attended Richard Huish College, in Taunton, received the prestigious ‘A-level Student of the Year’ award through the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) at a seminar in London.
She beat more than 310,000 other examination entrants for it.
Grace was also joint-top student in the country for her performance in a brand new award for the AQA Baccalaureate (Bacc) and received a solid silver medal for this.
There were more than 800 entries for the AQA Bacc this summer and Grace was joint top with one other student.
AQA director general Dr Mike Cresswell said: “We are delighted that the Student of the Year is one of the first to win our new award for the AQA Bacc.
“We are very proud of our new Baccalaureate and believe that it greatly enhances young people’s opportunities in further education and employment.”
A total of six medals were awarded today across six groups of subjects.
Grace was chosen from these top student contenders as the ‘A-level Student of the Year’ on the basis of her academic performance in A-levels taken this year. She has four A grade A-levels and one AS at grade A.
She received a trophy, a cheque for £500, and a certificate to mark the occasion.
As a self-confessed life-long enthusiastic reader, Grace is now studying English language and literature at Oxford University.
The awards presentation was held in partnership with five major companies with an interest in education and lifelong learning.
The main speakers at the seminar were the chairman of new regulators Ofqual, Kathleen Tattersall, and Dr Mike Cresswell.

New social group and support for special needs parents

A NEW social club for children in West Somerset with special needs and a support group for parents has been formed.
Information about the group will be shared by Action4Sen at a meeting being held in the Queen’s Hall, Minehead, at 11 am on Tuesday.
Action4Sen was set up last year by parents who were concerned at Somerset County Council cuts in school budgets for special needs provision.
It is campaigning for the council to return special needs funding to the level it was at before last August and also to stop the closure of any more special needs units in Somerset.
The group wants funding to be ring fenced funding to enable SEN assessments to be carried out fully to a national standard, as well as a review of present SEN facilities to allow the service to perform in the top quartile in the country within two years.
Following suggestions by parents for a social group to be formed, Action4SEN has met with CLOWNS, Social Services, and other parents in the area to discuss this idea.
As a result, the first meeting of the new social group will take place during the Easter school holidays at Alcombe Methodist Church Hall on April 10 from 10 am to 12 noon.
It is open to children with special needs, their siblings, parents, and carers, and offers a coffee and a chat with other parents and a chance to discuss how the group could develop.
A play activity box will be provided by Clowns.
More information is available from Siobhan Hutchings on 01643-707481 or by visiting the website http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/illuminate/a4sen/index.htm.

Rural schools bracing themselves for funding cuts

FUNDING proposals which could see rural schools in West Somerset forced into Victorian-style teaching classes have been approved by Somerset County Council.
Measures to axe the protection currently enjoyed by small schools and some middle schools were adopted as part of a catalogue of changes to the way education is funded in the county.
The Liberal Democrat-run council argued it wanted to make funding ‘fairer’ for all schools across the county.
But the effect of the decisions by the council’s executive board will be to threaten the very future of some of the smallest schools - especially as the authority is already separately reviewing whether to allow schools with fewer than 50 pupils to stay open on their own.
Despite strong representations from schools on Exmoor, including Exford First School, Dulverton Middle School, and All Saints First School, Dulverton, county councillors decided to reduce the minimum two-class funding protection for small schools to one class.
They also reduced the protection for middle schools from nine classes to six.
Now, small schools could be left with just a single class and one teacher for all their pupils, whose ages would range from four to nine years - just as when they were built by the Victorians 150 years ago.
Dr Brian Martin, who is chairman of the Federation of Exford and Dulverton Schools, was one of those to attend the county council meeting to speak in defence of rural education.
His cases was supported by letters from Exmoor National Park Authority, the Exmoor Society, Dulverton Town Council, MPs Ian Liddell-Grainger and Jeremy Browne, the West Somerset Community College, Minehead, and Exmoor’s county council representative Councillor John Edwards.
Dr Martin told The Post: “We did all we could. They listened very sympathetically to the case for small schools in rural areas and there was a lot of positive comment and understanding of how we needed to be treated carefully and not threatened by these changes.
“So, what we have got is a clause which says the board recognises the exceptional circumstances for rural small schools where pupils would otherwise have a long way to travel.”
Although the council said it would give ‘full transitional protection’ to small schools for the next three years, it was not interpreted by the schools as any postponement of the cuts.
Dr Martin said the results of the funding adjustments would not be felt immediately, as the council officers now had to develop the detail of the new funding formula.
The final figures were not expected to be announced until the middle of March, shortly before the new funding regime took effect at the start of April.
Dr Martin said: “So, we will have very little time between seeing the figures and having to cope with the new formula.
“We are continuing to lobby to try to ensure we are high in their consciousness right through to the numbers being crunched.
“We are trying very hard on behalf of the schools. They are successful schools and they have all done well in their Ofsted reviews and we want to grow and maintain them.”

• Our photograph shows Exford First School, which is one of the small rural schools now under threat. Photo submitted.

Jobless see £1 million a year spending to help them find work

A £3 million drive has been announced in West Somerset to turn around long-term unemployment and to help people access training and education to improve their job opportunities.
The Government funding will be spread over the next three years.
West Somerset Council’s economic development portfolio holder, Councillor Michael Downes, said: “This is a welcome investment in West Somerset and we will make sure the resources are targeted wisely to get the maximum benefit for local people and the local economy.
“While much of West Somerset may appear to be a Garden of Eden to visitors, we are pleased the Government has recognised there is deprivation in the area and has taken steps to help us address the issue.
“Many people perceive deprivation as a problem of troubled inner-city estates, but these are not a feature locally and our crime rate is among the lowest in the country.
“However, we do have pockets of deprivation across a wide geographical area which are linked to low income and unemployment.”
Sixty-six local, and 21 transitional, authorities will receive a share of the Government’s new £1.5 billion Working Neighbourhoods Fund.
Funding allocations are based in part on the most comprehensive mapping of prosperity and deprivation across England.
The recently published Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2007 show that 20 per cent of men and women living in the most deprived fifth of areas are not in work.
Tourism, while a major employer in West Somerset, is seasonal by nature and many jobs do not exceed the national minimum wage.
More than 26 per cent of people in West Somerset are employed in this sector, compared to a South West average of 9.4 per cent and a national average of 8.3 per cent.
Allied industries such as the hotel and restaurant trades, where work can also be part-time and seasonal, employ 38.3 per cent of local residents compared to a national average of 23.5 per cent.
Councillor Downes said: “We also suffer from poor transport links to motorways and we have tight planning controls to protect our area’s natural beauty which makes it harder to find suitable, accessible sites for industry.
“We will work with partners and the community to support self-employed people and small businesses who will be helped to grow and in turn employ more local people.
“We need to attract suitable new businesses where possible, and assist the long-term unemployed to access training and education to get back into work.”
Council leader Councillor Keith Ross said: “This is good news for West Somerset.
“Any initiative that will help break the cycle of long-term unemployment and lack of economic growth is positive for all of us.
“It will help the local economy in the short-term, and build future prosperity so that the next generation will want to stay and work in West Somerset.
“The money will help us to develop a new approach to tackling the problem.
“We need to pull together as a community to deal with deprivation because it affects everybody.
“We are looking forward to working with local people and partners to meet the challenge.”