St Michael's Primary School, Withyham

Ofsted Inspection November 2023

During our Ofsted inspection in November 2023, St Michael’s School received a judgement of "Requires Improvement." This outcome was incredibly disappointing for our dedicated staff and wider school community, who care deeply about the children, the quality of education we provide, and the values we uphold.

We were proud that the report recognised the strong, focused education we provide in reading and mathematics. At the time of the inspection, we shared our vision with the inspector: to build on this strong practice in core subjects by using it as a model to develop high-quality curriculum planning across non-core areas. Unfortunately, this forward-thinking strategy was not fully acknowledged at the time or in the final judgement.

As a small school where staff lead multiple subject areas, we face unique challenges, which we believe were not fully appreciated during the inspection process. The inspection framework made it difficult to engage in constructive professional dialogue. This was especially disheartening given the dedication, effort, and passion of our staff.

Following the inspection, our Governing Board submitted a complaint to Ofsted, believing that the judgement did not accurately reflect the strengths, context, or progress of our school. It is worth noting that this pattern of judgement is often given to smaller schools where teaching staff lead more than one curriculum area and are unable to focus equally on all areas of the curriculum simultaneously. Since then, we have heard from another local school in another education authority that had a similar inspection experience, where limited staffing capacity affected their ability to deliver every area of the curriculum with equal focus.

Nevertheless, we are moving forward with determination and integrity. A positive outcome of the inspection has been the securing of funding to further invest in the development of our curriculum.

Our team remains united in its commitment to every child and continues to work to strengthen our provision. We provide a warm, inclusive, and ambitious learning environment, something we know, from first-hand experience, our children benefit from every day.

Our most recent  report may be found at the link below:

Ofsted Report November 2023

THE GRANT

The Pupil Premium is a specific grant based on:

• Children registered eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) or at any point over the last 6 years (Ever 6)
• Looked after children (LAC)
• Children of parents currently serving in the armed forces.

The pupil premium is designed to narrow the potential academic gap and address the emotional and social well-being of these pupils. It is additional to main school funding and it will be used by this school to address any underlying inequalities between children eligible by ensuring that funding reaches the pupils who need it most.

SPORTS FUNDING

What is School Sports Premium?
The government is providing funding to improve provision of physical education (PE) and sport in primary schools.  This funding – provided jointly by the Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport – will be allocated to primary school head teachers to spend on improving the quality of sport and PE within their schools.  

What is the purpose of this funding?
Schools must spend the additional funding on improving their provision of PE and sport, but they will have the freedom to choose how they do this.  At St Michael's we recognise that PE plays an integral part in the well-being of all of our children.  We aim to incorporate physical education across our curriculum often linking it to our class themes where possible.  We offer wide and varied choice of extra-curricular activities run by qualified and experienced external agencies.  As we understand that leading a healthy and active lifestyle can have a positive impact on the concentration, learning and attitude of all children.  

Click on the link below to see how St Michael's have spent our funding.