| SPOTLIGHT |
A Cambridge primary school which was set to take Ofsted to court over an “inadequate” rating, has been restored its original rating of “good”.
Queen Emma Primary in Cambridge challenged the regulator after it was downgraded to "inadequate" following an inspection in October.
In a letter to parents and carers in May, the school said that it “totally refuted” the findings of the report, which concluded that the school’s safeguarding arrangements were “ineffective”.
The school revealed that it had submitted a formal complaint to Ofsted, “outlining the evidence which contradicts their findings”. However, it added that key aspects of the complaint had either not been upheld or responded to by the regulator.
Ofsted withdrew its original report after the school instituted legal proceedings to challenge it.
Based on a visit in June, the school has now been given a “good” rating.
The inspection was carried out by a different team of inspectors from those who visited the school in October. In a statement, the school revealed that “no substantive changes were made within the school between the two inspections”.
Queen Emma Primary continued: “This report fully vindicates the school’s legal challenge to the October 2022 inspection report. It shows that Ofsted can carry out its functions professionally and supportively; however, the school’s experience of Ofsted inspection over the past year shows that this cannot be guaranteed in every case.”
The school is submitting evidence to an MPs' inquiry into Ofsted, which follows the death of Ruth Perry, a headteacher who took her own life while waiting for a report that downgraded her school to "inadequate".
In April this year, school leaders’ union NAHT wrote to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector to demand a suspension of Ofsted inspections while steps are taken to address the risk to the mental health of school staff and enable suicide risk prevention to be put in place.
A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “During a review of Queen Emma’s complaint relating to the inspection that took place in October 2022, it became apparent that we had not considered concerns about the personal development judgement sufficiently, and this cast some doubt over that particular judgement.
“As a result, we removed the report from our website and reinspected the school in June 2023. The report will be published in due course.”
Lottie Winson
