Leadership drive sees Lincoln school earn improved Ofsted report

A Lincoln primary school rated previously as ‘requires improvement’ has received an improved Ofsted report due to significant progress in teaching and leadership.

Ofsted inspectors conducted a two-day inspection at the Lincoln Bishop King Church of England Primary School on January 20 and 21.

In a report published on February 11, inspectors rated the overall effectiveness of the school, which teaches 368 pupils, as ‘good’.

Inspectors found that pupils were making far better progress than at the time of the previous inspection, thanks in large part to teaching improvements at the school.

The report praised the efforts of teachers in ensuring that non-English speakers soon become “thoroughly prepared for life in their new country.”

Pupils were also said to benefit from the strong sense of British values and a Christian way of life, with parents on the whole holding the school in high esteem.

The governance of the school has been attributed by inspectors as one of the driving factors behind the school’s upturn in fortunes.

The report said: “The headteacher has led a relentless and successful drive to improve the school since the previous inspection.

“Leadership and management are much improved and are now effective at all levels. Leaders have worked closely with staff to ensure that all staff share leaders’ ambitions to ensure each and every pupil does his or her very best during their time at the school.

“Because leadership and management and teaching are much better, the school is well placed to continue to improve in the future.”

In order to become an ‘outstanding’ school, inspectors have encouraged teachers to alter the curriculum to challenge the most-able pupils and to assess children’s work during lessons.

Headteacher Kate Rouse said that she was absolutely delighted with the report’s findings, which marked around two years of hard work by the school.

She said: “22 months ago we were graded as requiring improvement and we totally understood the reasons for that – our own self-evaluation acknowledged this.

“Since then, we’ve been working towards getting a good rating and have stuck rigidly to our plans.

“We’ve totally revamped our curriculum and introduced personalised development for our staff. In my leadership role, I’ve also had to have some uncomfortable and pretty frank conversations with teachers about the best way forward.

“Work has already started on trying to become an outstanding school and we hope to maintain the momentum from this inspection.”