Acting head of Didcot Girls' School vows to improve standards (From Herald Series)

Acting head of Didcot Girls' School vows to improve standards

11:55am Tuesday 22nd September 2009

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THE acting headteacher of Didcot Girls’ School has vowed to improve discipline and boost its rating from education watchdog Ofsted.

Former deputy headteacher Fernand Dierckens, 44, took over the reins at Oxfordshire’s only all-girls comprehensive school following the sudden retirement of the previous head Paula Taylor-Moore in May.

The school had been stung by criticism from Ofsted inspectors who had visited the school a month earlier, rating the school as ‘satisfactory’, where the previous inspections had labelled it ‘good’.

The inspectors highlighted some pupils’ ‘disruptive behaviour’, saying some parents were worried about a lack of discipline and incidents of racism and bullying.

Mr Dierckens, who has been appointed acting head until the end of the school year, said the school’s performance would improve by the time Ofsted inspectors returned in 2010. He said he was ‘very confident’ that the school’s rating would improve.

Mr Dierckens said: “If they came back this side of the summer, we’d welcome them.”

Belgian national Mr Dierckens, who has taught modern languages at the school since 1996, said a new senior management team was stepping up discipline to crack down on troublemakers.

New standard operating procedures, outlining when and how pupils would be punished for bad behaviour, were also being implemented across the school.

He said: “Starting with the uniform, which is fundamental, we will have a renewed focus on making sure the girls present themselves formally, so that school is like coming to work.

“Ipods and mobile phones are now banned in class. Our big phrase and mantra is that when pupils go into the classroom, they must be ready to learn. If things don’t happen and lessons are disrupted for others, pupils need to come out of the lesson.

“There are not clear procedures for doing that and a clear follow-up, and I’ve had huge support from parents for that.”

Mr Dierckens said: “It seems I do have a reputation that I’m very, very strict, but I always say to the girls that I’m strict but fair.”

He said that the 1,350-pupil school particularly needed better maths results, a point highlighted by Ofsted.

Following Ofsted’s visit in March, HM Inspector Meena Wood wrote to the pupils to tell them: “In a minority of lessons, and especially in mathematics, too many of you are not achieving your potential as the teaching does not help you to learn as effectively as you should.”

Mr Dierckens said that a deputy head was working with the maths department to drive up standards and an extra teaching assistant had been appointed.

“We’re confident that we can change maths results next summer and get them to the right level to start building,” he said.

The school governors will decide who to appoint as a permanent headteacher in 2010.

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