RAG ratings, EADT report - statement by Ipswich Primary Academies Trust

Ipswich Primary Academies Trust recognises that the Local Authority needs to have a method of monitoring the performance of schools in Suffolk more frequently than noting the results of Ofsted inspections.  The RAG rating they use has been improved over recent years but still remains a crude measure which can never be as accurate or effective as the knowledge contained within schools.  An IPAT school is subject to an extremely robust internal and external QA assessment which gives the Trust an accurate and up-to-date picture of the school’s current performance as well as its capacity to improve.  This assessment also enables the Trust to focus on rapid improvement where and when it is needed.  Our vision is for the children in our schools to have an education which is equal to the best school provision in the country and we strive relentlessly to achieve this aim.  Early years and key stage one results in all of our schools improved considerably from 2014 to 2015 and we are building on this success in key stage 2.   The RAG ratings published in the EADT today are out of date.  In addition they were based on what the DfE terms "unvalidated data" (ie includes the KS2 results of children who have arrived in the UK in the last two years and have not yet learnt to speak English!)  As such they do not represent the current situation in our schools and have never been used by us as an accurate measure of our schools' performance.