Derbyshire primary school ‘requires improvement’ – but Ofsted praises ‘significant positive’ changes since new headteacher appointed

Pottery Primary School at Kilbourne Road in Belper was visited by Ofsted in October 2023 for the first time since 2018, and a follow up review took place in November.

The school, which was rated as ‘good’ during its last full inspection in 2014, has now received an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’. But early years provision, behaviour and attitudes and personal development have been named as ‘good’.

The report reads: “Pupils are happy at Pottery Primary School. It is a welcoming place. Parents and carers value the warm greeting they get each morning at the school gate. It reflects the school’s positive ethos. The school has built strong and trusting relationships with parents. They value how much the school cares about the wider development of the pupils.”

Inspectors recognised that the school had been through a rapid journey of improvement since the pandemic and since appointing a new headship in 2021 they noted 'significant positive improvements' had been made in every aspect of the primary and 'green shoots' continued to appear across all areas.

Headteacher Liz Peach said: "The children, staff, parents and governors are truly amazing at Pottery each and every day. I am extremely proud to be the headteacher of this wonderfully inclusive school."

A spokesperson for the governing board at the cchool said: “We are pleased that inspectors praised many very important aspects of school life however they did identify areas of development within quality of education and leadership and management.

“Whilst we are understandably disappointed with the overall judgement, we understand that the very nature of OFSTED and the inspection process is that they capture a ‘moment in time’ snapshot of the school.

“We have recently adopted new approaches for both writing and mathematics with the roll out still in its infancy across the school. We fully recognise that improvements can and do continue to be made to fully embed the new curriculum and work is already well underway to better support teachers in adapting lessons for SEND children.

"We are confident that, in the fullness of time, the outcome of the visit would likely have been a different one, reflective of the hard work and determination the teachers have put in to providing experiences for the children in a practical, fun and inclusive way.

“We also identify a need to assess the effectiveness of these approaches, and again, are confident that in time we will see the benefits reflected in the achievements and development of our pupils.

“Since the inspection, the school has already acted to support senior leaders to free up time for them to support teachers in the roll out of new approaches, invested in training and looked at the frameworks to assess the impact of the new curriculum on the pupils across the board.

“Despite the disappointing overall result of this year’s OSTED inspection, a huge amount of praise was given by the inspectorate, with them identifying a 'rapid upward trajectory of improvement' in a very short amount of time.

"Ultimately, we know that our school is a happy, nurturing, safe environment for our pupils where they continue to learn and thrive alongside our incredible teaching staff, and we will continue to ensure they do so in the best possible way.”