According to the Ofsted report, published yesterday, following an inspection in January, Riverside School requires "special measures" because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and "the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement."

Achievement is inadequate because pupils make insufficient progress in their writing. Most pupils make satisfactory progress in mathematics and reading. However, those pupils with disabilities and those who have special educational needs make inadequate progress during their time at school, particularly in reading.

The quality of teaching is inadequate because it does not challenge pupils of all abilities fully. Some pupils find the work that is set for them too easy and teachers do not have the expertise to use assessment data effectively enough to match work to the pupils' abilities. Pupils with disabilities and those who have special educational needs do not have their needs met in lessons. Moreover, staff do not have sufficient knowledge or understanding of how to support these pupils effectively either within main classes or in small group intervention classes.

Most pupils behave well. Behaviour in lessons is usually good but when pupils are not closely supervised, such as at lunchtime, behaviour is satisfactory.

The effectiveness of leaders and managers is inadequate. Self-evaluation is largely undertaken by the headteacher. It has recently improved in quality. Systems have been put in place to hold staff more to account for the progress of pupils in their classes. Staff training has taken place, acknowledging that the quality of teaching over time has not been good enough. However, these initiatives have not been in place long enough to have had a measurable impact on pupils' outcomes. The curriculum is inadequate because it is not meeting the needs of pupils with disabilities and those who have special educational needs.

Riverside last failed an Ofsted Inspection in 1997.

On Monday, September 15, 1997, the HebWeb reported:

"At a crowded meeting at Riverside School this evening, parents angrily demanded answers from Ian Jennings, Director of Education, Michael Higgins, Chairman of the Education Committee and other Council representatives. Why had the Council not acted earlier to do something about the problems at the school? What help was the Council going to provide? In spite of many excellent, impassioned comments and speeches from parents, the response was generally bureaucratic and legalistic offering nothing tangible.

When asked directly if he personally felt any responsibility for the school failing the inspection so badly, the Director said "I have to shoulder my share of the responsibility."

Many parents hadn't realised until the meeting that the Special Needs help at the school, which was one of the few areas praised by the Inspectors, had since been cut.

Under the leadership of Headteacher, Nicola Woodman, the school was out of special measures 2 years later.

See the Ofsted report - Feb 2012

HebWeb Forum: Riverside and Ofsted