A Cheam primary school has fallen from grace after plummeting from first to worst in its Ofsted ranking.

Cheam Common Junior School, in Kingsmead Avenue, Worcester Park, had until this week been rated as one of Sutton 'outstanding' schools until inspectors released their latest report that slammed the school and gave it the lowest possible rating of 'inadequate'.

The school's previous inspection, a "reduced tariff" report was carried out in 2008 with the last full inspection dating back to 2005.

Once schools are judged to be 'outstanding' they are inspected with less frequency.

It did, however, say that headteacher Jacquie Fairhurst had "resolutely begun to tackle weak teaching and poor working practices” since taking up her post in September 2013.

Among the findings in the report, published on Wednesday, February 4, were that:

  • Pupil achievement has declined over the last five years and the school had only begun to address this weakness in the last year.
  • Pupils’ progress in writing was inadequate in 2013 and 2014 with some pupils not being confident or fluent readers.
  • The most-able pupils do not make the progress they should.
  • Disadvantaged pupils do not make enough progress and the gap is increasing by the time pupils reach Year 6.
  • The impact of the support provided is not monitored closely enough by senior leaders and governors.
  • Disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs do not make consistently good progress.
  • Teaching over time has failed to challenge pupils sufficiently.
  • The teaching of writing and reading has been ineffective.

According to the Ofsted report, inspectors visited the school on December 16 and 17 last year, observing 20 lessons, one of which was seen jointly with Ms Fairhurst.

During the visit they examined pupils' written work and listened to some youngsters reading, observed the school’s work and looked at documents, including improvement plans and checks on the quality of teaching.

They also considered reports of local authority visits and the governing body minutes.

In coming to its findings Ofsted inspectors also weighed up 18 responses to the staff questionnaire and the 66 responses to the Parent View online questionnaire.

The report did find some positives. It said Ms Fairhurst had "resolutely begun to tackle weak teaching and poor working practices” since taking up post and that the school provided well for pupils’ personal and social development.

Behaviour too, it noted had improved, with the number of exclusions falling.

Cheam Common Junior School was called to comment on this story. Your Local Guardian was told Ms Fairhurst was away on a site visit. The school declined to comment further and instead said to contact Sutton Council's press office for any further correspondence on the matter.

A spokesman for Sutton Council said: "Clearly, we are disappointed and want to reassure parents that action is already under way, led by the school’s leadership team with our support.

"A clear plan for rapid improvement is in place and we are confident this will bring results back in line with the same excellent standards as other schools in the borough."

He added: "Inspectors rightly point out that overall attainment at the school has remained above national averages and the support from Sutton Council through the Additional Support and Intervention Programme will help deliver improvements."

To view the full report view click 102962__1 (2).PDF