Holt Farm Junior School in special measures

8:00am Monday 11th March 2013 in Echo News

A TROUBLED school hit by teachers striking and a sacked governing body has been dealt a final blow and been put into special measures by Ofsted.

Holt Farm Junior School in Rochford has been heavily criticised by Ofsted inspectors for its quality of teaching, pupil achievement and leadership and management.

At its last inspection in April 2011 it was rated satisfactory but when inspectors visited in January it was downgraded to inadequate and needing special measures. It will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

The school is led by Hasan Chawdhry who took over full time last September.

Teaching union the NUT led a strike before Christmas in dispute of his ‘poor management style’.

Union representative Jerry Glazier said; “I’m not surprised about the drop in standards. In April 2011 the school was fundamentally better than in January. The assertion of the headteacher about standards improving under his leadership are not demonstrated by this report.

“The teaching has been destabilised with some off sick and another seconded. This has resulted in temporary staff and its bound to have an effect on teaching and learning. Its a consequence not a criticism.

“The issues are symptoms of a more profound issue regarding the headteacher’s poor management style.”

Mr Glazier added he is considering writing to Ofsted to complain as the report ‘exaggerates’ the number of teachers off sick instead of half he says it is one third of staff.

He also said it is incorrect the dispute is due to staff unhappy with staffing changes.

The report says: “Mr Chawdhry has introduced a range of strategies to bring about improvements but these have not always proved successful because not all staff have adopted them. "

Mr Chawdhry did not return the Echo’s calls.

Essex County Council assumed governorship of the school in December but the governing body did not leave until February. The county council is setting up an interim executive board to take over the running of the school, now likely to become an academy..

Governors were cricised by inspectors for failing to hold the school to account for the quality of teaching, the provision for less able pupils and management of finances.

Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “Essex County Council accepts all of the findings in the Ofsted report but would like to reassure parents that several measures have already been implemented to drive up standards and improve education.

“The priority is to now appoint an Interim Executive Board who will work to delivered structured support to the staff and leadership team and advise on a wider term improvement plan and the future direction of the school.

Comments(9)

Logic-rules says...
8:15am Mon 11 Mar 13

Mr Chawdhry has been a fully responsible Interim Head since January 2012 and part time head for months previous to that. He has been fully substantive since September but his influence goes back much further.

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Richy don't shine shoes no more says...
8:30am Mon 11 Mar 13

Sounds like the lunatics want to run the asylum and the school got what it deserved by the actions of the staff.

Only one group loses, and they're too young to understand the placards

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Nebs says...
8:32am Mon 11 Mar 13

...range of strategies to bring about improvements but these have not always proved successful because not all staff have adopted them.

I wasn't aware that in the teaching profession you were allowed to ignore your boss.

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JuliaM says...
11:33am Mon 11 Mar 13

Nebs wrote:
...range of strategies to bring about improvements but these have not always proved successful because not all staff have adopted them. I wasn't aware that in the teaching profession you were allowed to ignore your boss.
That's the NUT for you!

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emcee says...
1:58pm Mon 11 Mar 13

Nebs wrote:
...range of strategies to bring about improvements but these have not always proved successful because not all staff have adopted them.

I wasn't aware that in the teaching profession you were allowed to ignore your boss.
I am afraid so.
Where the problem lies is that teachers have got too comfortable in their jobs and the unions allow this to continue. In fact they enforce it. Teaching is, more often than not, a cushy little number. Very good pay for the amount of work (and hours) they actually do, good holidays (whatever teachers will tell you they will rarely do any work during the 13 weeks school holidays), good pension and very little chance of ever being fired. Oh, and I forgot, you do not even have to be that good at your job either.

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lexiofeastwood says...
6:18pm Mon 11 Mar 13

i feel sorry for mr chawdury.hes obviously tried his best but unfortunately hes had little support from some of the teachers.hes lost the support of the governors who resigned on mass.it will be interesting if he has to leave because he will clearly get the blame that the school has gone into special measures.it will because of lack of leadership but what can he do if 5 teachers decide to go sick rather than come in to work with him in trying to turn this once great school around.the teachers may have made a mistake in trying to get mr chawdury out as the next headmaster could be a lot worse than the current one.i would rather the teachers who are off sick and clearly dont care about the childrens education had left and the school had recruited teachers who were more interested in teaching than trying to get rid of a headmaster who clearly has tried his best.year 5 of this school have lost a year of precious education which is out of order.can we bill the nut for the cost of having to pay for private tuition as the teachers were off sick for all this time.also i have to praise the teachers who ignored the strike and who may not always agree with the headmaster but have always put the children first above any petty gripes they may have with the headmaster.they are the type of teachers this school needs.please dont tar all the teachers the same at this school.also thank you to all the previous governors who did their best for the children but received little thanks.

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Suzanne1234 says...
8:15am Tue 12 Mar 13

I have a child in year 6 and he has had a much more rounded education and school experience since Mr C has been head. Mr C needs time to turn this school around. It had been going downhill for years before he came along. Positive improvements are apparent already. I will be more than happy for my younger two children to follow into this school.

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Starlight01 says...
12:50pm Tue 12 Mar 13

emcee what on earth are you basing your comments on? Have you ever lived with a teacher, been in a relationship with a teacher or been the child of one? I have and as the child of a teacher I can assure you they put more hours into the job that you will ever realise! Afterall, when do you think they plan lessons? When do you think they write reports, mark work, research new topics, make visits to places of interest to plan the next school trip? Let me tell you that this all takes place outside of school hours. Maybe you should walk a mile in the shoes of a teacher, see how it feels to keep the attention and interest of 30 kids of different abilities and backgrounds. I suspect you wouldn't last five minutes because not many do. After seeing the extra hours, stress and the huge number of resources purchased by my parent (because budgets are limited), I decided against a career in teaching. It is time society showed a little more respect towards teachers and the work they do, which often extends far into the communities in which we live.

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Listening123 says...
10:06pm Fri 15 Mar 13

What about the child who goes to school and no longer receives the many hours of support he's entitled to because the school pay the sick and the temps from his budget. His not allowed to stay at home with pupil related stress is he? If the teachers don't wanna stay move on so the can get permanent staff in and give all the children there some consistency. If your still off after after several months of not being there, then maybe your issues are stemming from something else!!!!

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