Ofsted has published it’s findings on Orchard Park Community Primary School it is incredibly disappointing to get a bad Ofsted result and as county councillor I encourage parents to reach out directly to me if there is anything I can do any information I can share or to just simply to share your concerns.

I want to advise about what has been going on in the run up to the publication of this report to begin a turn around at the school. The county council has had notice of this report since before the summer holidays and has already stepped in to give the school more support and help steer major and fast improvements. By the time this report is published significant work has been undertaken. Achieving a turn around is a matter of the utmost urgency.

The county council advised me ;

We have acted swiftly following a period of intervention and established the Interim Executive Board (IEB) to replace the governing body and provide strengthened oversight, challenge and leadership capacity. The IEB will work to secure rapid improvement within the school and has actioned immediate priorities around safeguarding highlighted within the report. Our shared focus working with the IEB is on ensuring pupils receive a safe, high-quality education and that improvements are secured at pace.

On Friday 18th September, the IEB will write to parents to share the report and explain the actions being taken. Parents will be invited to a parental engagement event on Monday 21st September where they can meet representatives of the IEB and local authority, hear about improvement plans, ask questions and share their views.

I want to add, Orchard Park has some quite significant challenges. Although effectively a city school it suffers from the same challenges a rural school has in terms of budget and numbers of students. Budgets are set based on one day a year and if some children are away on that day it has a significant impact on next years budget. Put simply balancing the books and covering the costs for a single form entry school is really hard.

Whilst the report is very critical of the governing board governors, who have now been replaced, I want to reflect that governors are local volunteers who took on this role because they care about the children of Orchard Park. It is, however, an extremely challenging job for a governing board. The governing board has been replaced but I know this report is a matter of great sadness to the former governors and I have a good deal of sympathy to them and want to thank them for having been prepared to stand as governors.

As a councillor I live locally, I will turn up, I will try to do what I can and I will advocate for the children and families of Orchard Park please get in touch with me about anything.

ros.hathorn@cambridgeshire.gov.uk