In Ogmore Vale Primary School, most pupils are polite and happy, and enjoy coming to school. When interesting topics and stimulating teaching motivate pupils, they respond well and make at least appropriate progress. All staff care for their pupils well and develop positive working relationships with them. This helps many pupils to flourish and gain in confidence. The school has many suitably skilled and experienced teachers, support staff and leaders. However, instability in staffing and leadership over the past few years has led to inconsistencies in teaching and assessment that has left gaps in pupils’ learning. The introduction of too many changes and initiatives in a short space of time and a lack of robust monitoring and evaluation systems mean that accurate selfevaluation is difficult and school improvement is slow. Inspection area Judgement Standards Adequate and needs improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Adequate and needs improvement Teaching and learning experiences Adequate and needs improvement Care, support and guidance Adequate and needs improvement Leadership and management Unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement 2 A report on Ogmore Vale Primary October 2017 Recommendations R1 Improve strategic planning systems and communication to involve all staff and enable the school to make and sustain improvements R2 Monitor the school’s work rigorously so that leaders can evaluate strengths and weaknesses accurately, identify priorities precisely and challenge underperformance R3 Improve the quality of teaching and assessment across the school R4 Raise standards of reading and spelling R5 Analyse the progress of specific groups of pupils to target and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions R6 Increase opportunities for pupils to contribute purposefully to the life and work of the school What happens next In accordance with the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that this school is in need of significant improvement. The school will draw up an action plan, which shows how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will monitor the school’s progress about 12 months after the publication of this report