Race Leys Junior School

Race Leys Junior School is a two form entry school situated in a catchment area with a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. There are with 256 pupils on role, the vast majority of which are white British.

I was appointed head in January 2011 prior to which the school had experienced a turbulent five years under several different head teachers and an Ofsted Notice to Improve judgement. At this time the school was experiencing huge difficulties. The behaviour of pupils and their attitude to learning was poor and the majority of the long serving staff had become disillusioned. Standards were low and pupil numbers were in decline; this was impacting on the school’s finances and strategies for dealing with a deficit budget were being explored. To compound this further, an Ofsted Inspection in early 2012 placed the school in Special Measures identifying three key areas for development: to improve teaching; to improve the curriculum and to improve the effectiveness of leadership at all levels.