THE headteacher of an ‘under fire’ Durham school has 'fully accepted' a poor Ofsted report that criticised the leadership, the provision for SEND children and communication between the school and parents – despite calling parts of the report “disappointing and disproportionate”.
St Leonard’s Catholic School in Durham City was handed a "requires improvement" grade on April 12 after inspectors visited the secondary school and sixth form on January 26 and 27 this year.
This inspection was carried out following complaints made to Ofsted that raised “serious concerns”. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector decided that an inspection of the school should take place to follow up the whole-school issues that were raised.
Read more: St Leonard's Durham gets poor Ofsted report after 'serious concerns'
Despite finding "good" elements within "the quality of education", "behaviour and attitudes", "sixth-form provision" and "personal development", the report went on to say there was a “fragmented” relationship between parents and the school, as well as problems with dealing with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
Following the inspection, headteacher of the school, Chris Hammill, has said that he "fully accepts" the decision made by education inspectors - and wants to work with parents to "unlock the potential" of St Leonard's.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, Mr Hammill said: "We fully accept the areas for improvement identified through the report.
"We continue to work hard for all our pupils, especially those with SEND and look forward to continuing to positively engage with families in this regard.
"We ask any families with outstanding questions to let the school know so we can provide the support necessary."
Alongside the discussion with The Northern Echo, the headteacher at St Leonard's Catholic School sent a letter to parents about the report – saying that while the school agrees with the grading, it is working to address issues within the education facility.
In the letter, Mr Hammill tells parents: “We are delighted that specific strengths around key areas such as behaviour, safety and academic rigour have been positively acknowledged.
“The greatest strength outlined in this report is the position of Teaching and Learning, the main work of any school. This effectively addressed the major area for improvement following our inspection in 2019.
“We think it is also important to draw out the recognition of our dedicated staff in the report.
“Pupils as ever were a credit to themselves and their families and received many compliments during the inspection. All these strengths, running alongside our extensive enrichment programme, are the day-to-day experiences of our pupils.
“However, whilst we believe, building on the hard work over many years, we are offering an improving education, we know we still have areas to improve.”
Further in the letter, Mr Hammill calls the ‘requires improvement’ grade in leadership and management at St Leonard’s “disappointing, disproportionate and does not accurately reflect the school”.
The letter continued: “The very specific strands identified for improvement around SEND and school procedures, have been brought out in the report and which we full accept.
“We were working on these areas before the inspection and continue to do so. The support we give to all our pupils, in particular those who have additional needs, is at the centre of what we try to do, each day.
“We did our very best, both during and after our inspections, to present reasoned views and substantial evidence, but we were not able to convince Ofsted that the ‘requires improvement’ grade for leadership and management and overall effectiveness is disappointing, disproportionate and does not accurately reflect our school.
“I am extremely proud to be headteacher and a parent of St Leonard’s and firmly believe we can look forward to a bright future.
“As we move forward, we are confident we can keep getting stronger for the benefit of all our pupils, especially those who need support the most.”
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