pdf School inspection report - Ofsted

to compensate for the overall lack of interest in belonging to the governing body, but
as decisions can only be made in full committee this limits their influence. The
governing body is not sufficiently forward looking, does not have a clear vision for the
future of the school, and does not act as a critical friend to the school, reacting to
situations created within the school rather than having its own vision for the school’s
future and holding it to account.
63. Great credit should go to those members of the governing body who are active for
maintaining close links with the school and for compensating for those who are not. It
is their work together with the strength of leadership of the headteacher, the
principal teachers, senior staff and the chair of governors which has enabled the
school to continue to develop and improve standards.
64. The leadership and management of the under-fives are good. There is a strong and
dedicated team of adults. The teachers, nursery nurses, classroom assistants and
bilingual support staff are very effective. Subject managers are also effective and
ensure that subject planning is thorough and that new initiatives are well introduced.
For example, the introduction of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies have
been the focus of much development recently and the school rightly concentrates its
resources on such initiatives through the comprehensive school development plan.
65. Good use is made of finance provided to support the learning of pupils who are
acquiring English language skills. Most of the support is targeted in the early years
and Key Stage 1 where most pupils at the beginning of the process are located. In
Key Stage 2 the school has recognised that even pupils whose English is more
advanced require some additional support. It has appointed two part-time teachers to
support mostly the work in literacy and numeracy, enabling pupils to be taught in
smaller groups in these subjects.
66. Teachers are well equipped to teach pupils with English as an additional language.
There are good arrangements to increase their skills in this area. Many are voluntarily
learning some basic Urdu or Bangla to increase their effectiveness. The school
receives a number of grants including one for the level of disadvantage, another for
pupils with special educational needs, and a very substantial grant to provide
assistance for ethnic minority groups. There has also been a single payment to the
school from the regeneration budget awarded to the Glodwick area which is part of the
Alexandra ward in which the school is situated. This was used to purchase computers
and set up the computer suite. Much of this additional finance is used to give an
advantageous staffing ratio which enables the school to deal effectively with
significant pupil disadvantage.
67. Non-teaching staff are similarly well qualified to meet the needs of the pupils having
either nursery nursing qualifications or bilingual abilities to a high level. All work hard
and are prepared to be flexible when necessary.
68. Because most of the pupils from a Bengali background are first-generation
immigrants, their need for support is substantially greater than that of the pupils from a
Pakistani background, but the availability of such support is rather less. Nevertheless,
the school has achieved a satisfactory level of support for these pupils.
Greenhill Community School - 23