Parents demand urgent improvements after Stamshaw school's damning Ofsted

Stamshaw Junior School has been rated as requiring improvement by the education watchdog in its latest review of the Tipner Road site.

The review is the first after the institution was taken over by Portswood Primary Academy Trust three years ago.

Education officials from Portsmouth City Council are now in talks with Portswood about the situation.

Now an ex-governor at the school has blasted the academy for ‘breaking its promise to parents’ and failing to drive up standards.

Kevin Whittle was on the board of governors for three years before quitting his role last year amid concerns about how the school was being run.

He said: ‘Portswood Primary Academy Trust is an absolute joke. It’s ridiculous.

‘The trust is failing the children massively.

‘My son is in his last year there and, frankly, I want to move him to another school next week.

‘When Portswood took over the main selling point they had for parents is that they would bring about rapid improvement at the school.

‘Well, that was a lie because here we are, three years later, still “requiring improvement”. It’s a joke.’

Another parent, who asked not to be named, said: ‘We’ve put our trust in the academy and they’ve failed our children. They need to go.’

Inspectors rated Stamshaw as ‘requiring improvement’ in all four key areas monitored by Ofsted.

The report said teaching had shown signs of ‘substantial’ improvement at Stamshaw in the past year.

However, monitors criticised the school’s leadership, saying they had ‘not ensured’ that all groups of pupils achieved consistently well in reading, writing and maths.

But the report went on to say leaders had established a ‘calm, purposeful and positive atmosphere’ at Stamshaw.

Ofsted added there had been improvement in pupil behaviour since the trust took over but said there were still issues, claiming an ‘element of rough play’ in the playground was ‘interfering with some pupils’ enjoyment of playtime’.

Portswood said it was ‘clear’ about what it needs to do to improve, adding: ‘The school is already formulating its post-Ofsted action plan with support from the trust which will be shared with parents.

‘The school is confident that, given the progress already made, it is on track to be a good school and will continue to work with parents, children and other partners, such as the local authority and regional commissioners office, to achieve this.’