Schools failing to offer good education

More than half of schools inspected in the Black Country and Staffordshire are failing to provide pupils with a good education, Ofsted said today.

Of 59 inspections between September and December last year, just five have been judged as outstanding, which is eight per cent.

A total of 22 schools, 37 per cent, were rated good. In Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Dudley, 54 per cent of schools visited by inspectors were rated satisfactory or inadequate, a total of 32.

Since last September, Ofsted has not inspected schools previously rated as outstanding and only a small proportion of schools judged as good were revisited.

The latest visits included primary and secondary schools, academies, special schools and some nurseries.

In Wolverhampton, Moseley Park Technology College in Bilston was rated inadequate, six schools were satisfactory and five were good.

In Dudley, inspectors judged Hawbush Primary in Brierley Hill as inadequate, four others as satisfactory, five as good and two as outstanding.

In Walsall, Hatherton Primary in Bloxwich was deemed inadequate, four were satisfactory, two were good and one was outstanding.

Inspectors rated five schools in Sandwell as satisfactory, five as good and Shireland Collegiate Academy in Smethwick as outstanding. In Staffordshire, nine came out satisfactory, four were good, while Cannock Chase Children's Centre was outstanding.

In Worcestershire, Lickhill Primary School in Stourport was rated as good.

Across the whole country, 2,016 schools were inspected during the autumn term.

Some seven per cent were inadequate and almost two in five were satisfactory.

Overall, just under half of inspected schools nationally were judged as good and one in 10 was outstanding. Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert said: "Current school inspection arrangements set out to be more challenging to schools, so it is encouraging to see 56 per cent were judged good or outstanding."