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Our Headmistress’ Response

 

R1 Improve progress in Year 1 and 2 to that achieved in the rest of the school.

 

School's response:

• An Early Years Co-ordinator has been appointed to be responsible for overseeing progress in Reception and Year 1.
  

• A Junior Subjects Co-ordinator has been appointed to be responsible for overseeing progress in Years 2, 3 and 4.
  

• A new phonics scheme has been introduced in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to help improve the standard of phonic recognition and literacy in general.
  

• All staff have attended two in-service training days which concentrated on the delivery of the curriculum at Key Stage One.
  

• The Year 2 teacher will attend an Edexcel Training Day for delivering the curriculum at Key Stage One.
  

• The Year 1 and Year 2 teachers are being closely monitored and observed by the Head of English, Head of Maths, Early Years Co-ordinator in order that through constructive criticism they may increase their expectations of the children. In return the Year 1 and Year 2 teachers are observing other staff to further enhance good practice.
  

• Individual tracking of pupils from Reception has been introduced to ensure that progress of each child can inform curriculum planning in the future.
  

• New Reading Policy has been introduced by the Early Years Co-ordinator and an after school Reading Club started at the beginning of the Spring Term.

R2 Improve the use of assessment to review teaching in the Curriculum

 

School's response:

• From June 2004 there will be annual subject reviews which will reflect pupil attainment and progress throughout each academic year. The results of these will then be used to allow teachers to inform and improve their planning and delivery of the curriculum in the next year.
  

• From January 2004 a new pupil tracking system has been introduced. This will allow teachers to include the needs of each ability group in their future planning and delivery of the curriculum.
  

• On 28th January 2004 a member of staff will attend the IAPS Course titled "Assessment for Learning and Monitoring for Pupil Progress". She will then chair a whole-school staff meeting to pass on information received on the training day.
  

R3 Further develop a policy to promote the learning of gifted and talented pupils

 

School's response:

• A Committee including 2 Governors, 2 parents and 4 teaching staff has been set up to discuss how the school will devise a policy and programme to promote the learning of gifted and talented pupils.
  

• Each member of staff has been asked to provide a statement describing how their department can contribute to a gifted and talented programme.
  

• The school has already responded to a request from the local London Borough of Richmond Education Department with regard to a "sport for all initiative".
  

R4 Increase the systematic monitoring of the subjects of the Curriculum

 

School's response:

• The school timetable has already been adjusted to allow the core subject co-ordinators more non-contact time which is to be used specifically to observe teaching in their subject areas.
  

• Regular half-termly subject staff meetings have been fixed to discuss the teaching, progress, assessment, content of curriculum and inform future planning.
  

• Each subject co-ordinator has been asked to provide a yearly subject report to the Headmistress.

R5 Comply, as already planned, with the regulatory requirements concerning the Complaints Procedure

 

School's response:

• The Governing Body ratified the Complaints Procedure at their meeting on Thursday 20th November. All parents received a copy of the Complaints Procedure on Friday 21st November.

Paragraph 6.9:

Measures to constrain physical activity in areas with limited space are not always sufficiently rigorous.

 

School's response:

• New risk assessments highlighting areas where space is limited have been carried out and all staff have been made aware of these.
  

• More padding has been placed on protruding areas of walls in the playground.
  

• The door to the porch by the Design Technology room has been changed to open into the porch and not out into the playground as before

Paragraph 6.15

"But in the Gym and on the netball court, where space is limited, some activities being undertaken could be hazardous"

 

School's response:

• For Gym see above response to paragraph 6.9
  

• The playground is no longer used for netball with Years 5 and 6.
  

• As of the beginning of the Autumn Term 2004 the timetable has been changed to allow a games afternoon for girls in Years 5 and 6. These lessons take place at the "Old Deer Park" netball courts in Richmond.

Paragraph 8.19

Year 5 timetables of whole and half class lessons results in one half-class studying English all Tuesday afternoon. Although efforts are made to vary the tasks for the pupils, this timetabling should be reviewed

School's response:

 

Year 5 timetables have been reviewed and corrected.

 

The team’s visit was a very positive one, and all three members were very supportive and professional in their conduct.

 

It was very unfortunate however that having met with the Reporting Inspector for a day in the Summer Term and holding a parental discussion forum for him on that day, as well as a meeting with a Governor, that I returned after the Summer holiday with only six weeks to go before the inspection date, to discover that a new Reporting Inspector had been appointed to us. Mr Turner however was very helpful.

 

Judith R. Harrison
Headmistress

© The Old Vicarage School 2008