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Walderslade Girls’ School in Chatham showing signs of improvement, Ofsted says

By: Sean McPolin smcpolin@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 16:44, 26 January 2024

A failing school which was plunged into special measures is showing signs of improvements, an Ofsted report has revealed.

Walderslade Girls’ School was told it needed major improvement after it was rated Inadequate in February.

Walderslade Girls School in Chatham. Picture: Google Maps

It came after a video of girls brawling at the Bradfields Avenue site in Chatham was circulated online, causing outrage among parents.

Now, 10 months on from the rating, Ofsted inspectors visited again to see how it was doing and judge it for its quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management.

A report revealed the school was showing signs of improvement, but still had a long way to go.

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It said: “The leadership team has acted swiftly to address these concerns and to change the culture of safeguarding. As a result, safeguarding is now effective.

“Staff have received training on recognising the signs that a pupil might be at risk of harm and recording systems have been simplified. However, more work could be done on monitoring the impact of this training and on ensuring that everyone is confident in recording these concerns.”

A video of a brawl erupting at Walderslade Girls School in Chatham went viral online. Picture: Twitter/@georgiiee_xo
The fight caused anger among many parents at the school. Picture: Twitter/@georgiiee_xo

Family liaison officers have also been appointed at the school to improve relationships between itself and pupil’s families, which the report says is helping to improve attendance, although not to the required level.

Disruption and poor behaviour are also much rarer at other times, with leaders aiming to improve overall behaviour with a no-nonsense approach to violence and aggression.

The report added: “As a result, there was a temporary rise in the use of exclusions. These were used appropriately and are now falling as behaviour improves.”

It continued: “Other areas of the quality of education have seen more rapid improvement. At the time of the previous inspection, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) were not receiving their statutory support.

“The school has acted swiftly to remedy this and there is now an effective system to identify needs, with regular reviews of pupils’ plans in place.”

The school has been approached for comment on the latest visit.

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