Progress from primary school in special measures

Rogate Primary was placed in special measures following an Ofsted inspection in January which found it was “failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education”.

A monitoring inspection was carried out on June 22/23 and the findings were published on July 11.

In her report, inspector Gehane Gordelier said interim headteacher Amy O’Toole – who was appointed after the January inspection – had “successfully moved the school forward on its journey of improvement”.

She added: “Together with senior leaders, you are tackling weaknesses in the school with energy and determination. As a result, you have galvanised staff to work more effectively as a team and have helped to raise their expectations of what pupils can achieve.”

The improvements were noted by parents, who told Ms Gordelier “a degree of positivity” had been injected into the school since Ms O’Toole’s arrival.

The journey is not yet over for Rogate as Ms O’Toole and her team tackle the areas highlighted for improvement following the January inspection.

They included leadership and management, teaching and early years provision.

The school was ordered to carry out external reviews into governance – which is under way – and the way it used its pupil premium funding.

In addition, because it had been placed in special measures, Rogate was ordered to convert to academy status by the Department for Education (DfE).

The Diocese of Chichester is working with the school and the local authority to explore options.

Canon Dr Ann Holt OBE, of the diocese, said no decisions about the academy plan had been taken but they expected to hear from the DfE soon.

Rogate Primary was contacted for comment.

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