An East London school that costs up to £500 a month for one child “requires improvement” as its pupils struggle to read full books, a new report has found. The report by education watchdog Ofsted found that the Jasper City School in Newham was behind in a number of areas, including the quality of its teaching and how the school helped students develop.
The independent school teaches kids from the ages of six to 16 and opened in 2018. Since then, Ofsted has given the school two reports, both saying it requires improvement.
In the latest report, inspectors praised the school’s environment and class culture, but criticised its teaching style and particularly singled out pupils’ issues with reading. Ofsted officials said that Jasper City School put a strong focus on Christian and African-Caribbean literature at the expense of the classics and other modern books.
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They added that being unable to teach young students to match sounds they had learned with what they were reading, and failing to encourage pupils to read whole books, was damaging their learning process and development. The inspectors said in their report: “Leaders do not provide books where the words match the sounds that pupils know.
Pupils read their workbooks, and study a wide range of Christian literature and African-Caribbean authors. “However, overall, pupils lack experience in reading whole books and do not read a wide enough range of contemporary or classic fiction in order to prepare them for life in modern Britain.”
However, although inspectors were deeply concerned about the failings in the school’s reading, they praised the general positive culture of the school and said that there was potential for the East London school to improve. They added that its special needs education was particularly impressive.
They said: “Pupils behave well in class and focus on their studies. They have positive attitudes to learning and develop the skills to self-manage their learning over time.
“There is a calm and orderly environment around the school. The strong relationships between pupils and adults create a warm and mutually respectful atmosphere, which helps pupils learn.”
The officials added that the school’s teachers work closely with their pupils, and encouraged Jasper City School to improve.
Jasper City School declined to comment when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
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