A BROMSGROVE headteacher has hit out to vow his school will become ‘outstanding’ after admitting he was ‘disappointed’ by the improvements suggested by a recent Ofsted visit.

Fairfield First School was rated ‘good’ during the watchdog’s most recent full inspection in 2015 – but January’s ‘short’ inspection suggested areas that needed to be improved.

Those areas included record-keeping for safeguarding incidents, online compliance and setting the school’s most able pupils work that is ‘challenging’ enough.

However, Scott Smith, headteacher at the Stourbridge Road school, which caters for 117 pupils aged 5-9, said some of the points made were addressed within hours.

He said: “On 30th January 2019, Fairfield First School was visited by Ofsted. This was a challenging, rigorous and yet positive experience.

“Feedback from both parents and children via the Ofsted questionnaires was incredibly positive and our children enjoyed the opportunity to show the inspector their work.

“Although we remain a ‘Good’ school, as headteacher I am disappointed with some of the development points highlighted by the inspection, some of which were rectified within less than 24 hours.

“We have worked with Ofsted, school staff and our Governing Body to use the findings from the report to help us adapt and improve our practice further, ensuring that we continue to offer the children of Fairfield the best possible educational provision as we continue our journey to ‘Outstanding’.”

The school has been rated ‘good’ following each of its past three full inspections but will now face another full inspection from Ofsted the next time they visit.

Emma Titchener, Ofsted inspector, praised the school’s ‘culture for reading’ and recognised that pupils achieved results above the Key Stage 1 national average in reading, writing and mathematics.

She added that pupils ‘feel safe’ at school, are ‘confident’ in the ability of teachers and other staff, that students ‘are well behaved, courteous and kind’ and that the 65 online parents’ responses were positive.

However, Ms Titchener also outlined areas for improvement, commenting that the most able pupils sometimes found work ‘too easy’.

She said “At the previous inspection, you were asked to provide work that is consistently challenging for pupils of all abilities.

“Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and low and middle prior-attaining pupils are provided with work that is challenging most of the time.

“However, most-able pupils do not receive work that is challenging enough. As a result, they do not make the progress of which they are capable.”

Ms Titchener also commented that the school website did not meet the current guidelines set out by the Department for Education in regard to certain points, including safeguarding information.

She requested the school ensure that:

“Systems and procedures for record-keeping and monitoring safeguarding incidents are rigorous and up to date.

“The most able pupils are provided with a consistent level of challenge in mathematics and writing

“Teaching and learning of writing in Reception is more closely matched to children’s needs and abilities.

“The school’s website is compliant and is checked regularly so that it remains compliant.”