Cambridge school in Ofsted legal case given good rating

Queen Emma Primary School in Cambridge challenged Ofsted over its findings

A school which had been prepared to take Ofsted to court said its restored rating of "good" had come after an "exhausting and demoralising" year.

Queen Emma Primary in Cambridge challenged the watchdog after it was downgraded to "inadequate" following an inspection in October.

Ofsted has since scrapped its report and given the school a "good" rating, based on a visit in June.

It said it would publish the report soon but could not comment further.

Sean Lang, chair of governors at Queen Emma, said while it was delighted with the new report, the "true picture" it reflected was of a school unchanged since the previous inspection.

"The only change was the inspector," he added.

"Had we not put up such a fight against the original finding we would still have an inadequate rating.

"It shows that Ofsted can be very professional and conduct itself properly, as it should."

The government's schools inspectorate has faced questions after head teacher Ruth Perry took her own life ahead of an Ofsted report which rated her primary school in Reading, Berkshire, as inadequate.

Queen Emma Primary School was inspected by Ofsted in October and the report, with a finding of 'inadequate', published in March

Ofsted had said Queen Emma's safeguarding was "ineffective", with the school arguing that the judgment was flawed.

The school also claimed the inspector had walked out of the school with confidential data relating to the welfare of a child.

Head teacher Sarah Jarman previously said the inspection "shattered every piece of self-belief I have", with Dr Lang describing it as "like an all-out assault".

Ofsted "gave way" and withdrew its original report when the school lodged its case with the High Court and submitted 86 pages of evidence, Dr Lang said.

The new report states safeguarding at the school is "effective" and praises the school for its "sharp focus on the pastoral needs of pupils" which helps them "thrive".

While this draws a line under the rating dispute, the school is continuing with its appeal to the Parliamentary Ombudsman about the handling of the case.

Queen Emma Primary School's chair of governors, Sean Lang, previously said challenging Ofsted's report had been tough

It also has to meet its £33,000 legal costs, which is being covered by school funds and an online appeal, which raised more than £6,000.

Distress

"In a sense this took up the whole of last year," added Dr Lang.

"There was much distress, not just the head, but many of the staff were feeling it because it was an improper judgment on the school.

"The only response we ever got was 'we stand by our report' - they [Ofsted) could not concede the possibility that they might have got it wrong.

"It made it so exhausting and quite demoralising.

"I have been amazed by the extent to which the teaching staff ensured the children were unaffected and life at school continued."

The school is submitting evidence to an MPs' inquiry into Ofsted, in the wake of Ms Perry's death, over what it deems the "lack of consistency that schools experience".