The acting executive head of a formerly ‘outstanding’ primary school has told parents that the school is committed to providing the very best education for their children, despite a ‘very disappointing’ Ofsted.

Parc Eglos Primary School in Helston has been downgraded from the “outstanding” it got in September 2011 to “needing improvement” following an Ofsted inspection in June.

Current headteacher Jayne Banner has been off sick from the school since Christmas. She was appointed head in July 2022 following the retirement of previous long term head Brett Dye.

In a letter to parents, which the Packet has seen, acting executive head Vicky Sanderson told parents it was obviously “very disappointing” for all members of staff that the outcome of the inspection had found that the school requires improvement and would undoubtedly be very disappointing for parents also.

“However, it must be said that all staff in school are committed to providing the best education for the children of Parc Eglos School,” she said. “To a certain extent the outcome of the inspection was not a surprise given the recent turbulent and unsettled years the school has experienced.

“With the publication of the report, now is the time to look forward and continue to address the issues that you as parents are most concerned about – that is ensuring that the children of Parc Eglos School receive the high quality education that they deserve in a safe environment where all children are supported to reach their potential.”

The Ofsted report found while pupils at the end of key stage 2 achieve well in national tests for reading, writing and mathematics, pupils’ learning in the wider curriculum is not secure.

It said the new leaders are determined to improve this to ensure the quality of education pupils receive is good.

It said the school has designed an ambitious and structured curriculum that has identified the small steps of knowledge that pupils need to learn to reach clear end points.

It said while children leave the early years ready for Year One, as pupils move through the school, the curriculum is not delivered as intended across all subjects and so pupils’ learning is hindered.

“Staff lack the necessary subject knowledge to move learning on effectively. Activities do not always match the intended learning,” said the report.

“This means pupils’ understanding is not secure. Consequently, pupils develop gaps in their knowledge.”

It says the trust and school have not, until recently, invested in high-quality training for staff and subject leaders.

“As a result, subject leadership is at an early stage of development,” they said. “While some leaders are using monitoring information to help staff improve the delivery of subject content, many do not consistently monitor the effectiveness of the curriculum and how well pupils are learning.”

On the plus side they say children develop a love of reading from an early age. It says the school skilfully uses a systematic phonics programme and so children successfully sound out new words.

If pupils fall behind, they receive effective extra support to keep up.

They said children with SEND (Special Educational Needs) are supported well in some areas of the school.

However, it said some pupils with SEND do not have precise individual targets and so any adaptations to learning are too broad.

“This means that small steps of progress are difficult to measure and some pupils with SEND do not learn well.”

The report says personal development at the school is a strength with pupils understanding equality and showing maturity and confidence when talking about a range of issues.

It says the trustees and local governing body are determined to continue the school’s journey of improvement with most staff are proud to work at the school valuing the team spirit that exists.

It says most parents are happy with the support their children receive. However, a “significant minority” of parents comment that communication from the school is not clear or effective.

It says since the previous inspection, a new headteacher has been appointed who was not present during the inspection.

Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, members of staff, the CEO of the trust, the director of education of the trust, the chair of the trust board, trustees and members of the local governing body. The full report can be seen here