A REDDITCH first school has been told to improve after Ofsted inspectors said ‘teachers are not delivering the curriculum well enough’.

Batchley First and Nursery School has been rated ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted after inspectors visited on June 6 and 7.

The report which has recently been published, shows the school was rated ‘requires improvement in three areas: the quality of education, early years provision and leadership and management.

However, the school on Cherry Tree Walk was rated good for personal development and behaviour and attitudes.

The Ofsted report notes: “Most curriculum areas have been thoughtfully designed, but many subject leaders are relatively new to leading their subject.

“Consequently, they have not yet established how well their curriculum is being delivered and what further support teachers need.

“Activities pupils are given do not enable teachers to identify any gaps or misunderstandings they might have in their learning. This makes it harder for pupils to build successfully on their learning.”

However, the school was praised for its ‘caring and supportive environment’ as ‘leaders have worked hard to ensure that the school is a happy place where pupils feel safe’.

Sarah Downes, head teacher at Batchley First School said ‘personal development is a high priority as ‘pupils have opportunities to engage in lots of enrichment activities.

She said: “We know the pupils and their families extremely well and support them in many aspects – and this also shines through in the report with our safeguarding procedures being effective.

“The leadership team are relatively new to their posts. 

“We have a clear vision that is shared by staff and governors. All stakeholders are committed to ensuring the best outcomes for all school families.

“We had correctly identified the areas for development and actions have already commenced to ensure that on the next Ofsted visit we secure ‘Good’ in all areas.

“We are thankful for the supportive emails we received from parents after the report.”