Wisbech St Mary school decline down to ‘legacy of poor teaching in the past,’ says Ofsted

Wisbech St Mary Church of England Primary School has suffered an alarming fall from grace after the school was labelled as ‘inadequate’ following a recent Ofsted inspection.

The school on Church Road secured a ‘good’ grading from its inspection in 2012, but ‘inconsistent’ teaching quality and ‘low’ standards of reading, writing and mathematics have resulted in lead Ofsted inspector Chris Moodie’s ‘inadequate’ ruling.

Ofsted’s report pin-pointed previous teaching issues at the school, stating that ‘a legacy of poor teaching’ had ‘impacted significantly on the rate of pupils’ learning.’

However, the school’s headteacher, Nina Redhead, was praised for her efforts since taking over at the school in January 2015.

The report said Ms Redhead had ‘made a positive impact on all of the staff’s work,’ and that the school’s teaching staff have ‘rallied under the headteacher’s leadership and are determined to make things better.’

The report also cited an improvement in pupils’ behaviour, but said that standards in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two have ‘been in decline’ since its previous inspection.

The school teaches 153 pupils from ages four to 11, and is preparing to convert to academy status.