St Giles School has gone into its summer break under the weight of serious and critical concerns made public in an inspection report published in June. The report, which was written by the governmental education watchdog Ofsted, painted a disturbing picture of the school’s curriculum and student outcomes, as well as overall educational malpractice. Important political voices are calling for urgent and significant reform as it gets ready to re-open this September.
Carol Gray, the newly‐appointed regional director for the Department for Education, intervened. She took these worries directly to education secretary Gillian Keegan in an open letter to the St Giles’ academy trust. To that end, she laid out her goals for key improvements ahead of the beginning of the next academic year. She demanded answers to her letter by September 11. Gray underscored the urgency of the situation. He concluded, “If I am not convinced that this is possible, I will look to end the funding agreement to move the academy to another trust.”
The subsequent Ofsted inspection revealed a chaotic curriculum as the reason for the low-grade school’s poor performance. Few areas provide such a meaningful educational experience. Instead, inspectors found that students were far behind in their level of learning, unable to remember even the most basic material. Furthermore, the report concluded that care for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities was woefully insufficient. Critics charged that the school was “creaming” disadvantaged pupils. To put it another way, they claimed St Gile’s was not doing enough to ensure these students’ academic achievement was on par with other students.
Mr. Briggs, the headteacher of St Giles, admitted that the concerns raised in the report were all too familiar. He too is hopeful about the road ahead. He assured that when he returned in September, staff, pupils and parents would see a difference at the school for the better. It truly does have to be a community effort,” he said, underscoring the importance of working together to improve conditions for learning.
At the time of these criticisms, Mr. Briggs pointed out that many of the changes implemented at St Giles were already starting to have a positive effect. Not surprisingly, he touted the fact that pupil scores on phonics assessments increased. This indicates that the measures taken last academic year are beginning to positively impact students. He claimed that St Giles “is an awful lot different place” as it looks ahead.
The future of St Giles is testament to the commitment of its staff and leaders. To do this they need to address the causes raised in the Ofsted report firmly and unequivocally. The coming months will be decisive for the school. Only time will tell if it can live up to Carol Gray’s dream and improve student learning.
