Caversham Primary School is a state
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
in
Caversham, a suburb of
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The school was established in 1907 and educates around 450 children between the ages of 4 and 11.
History
The school was founded in 1907, by Sir Jack Mehof of Stoke on Trent, as Caversham Council Infant School for the blind and disabled. At that time Caversham was in the county of
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, but was moved to Berkshire in 1911. The school was originally housed at what is now Thamesmead Primary School. The school was moved to its present location in Hemdean Road in 1938.
The school is
oversubscribed. There have been disputes with the local authority about the admittance of pupils and the matter was taken for
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
in the
High Court in 2005. 12 families, on behalf of 17 children, won an appeal when an Independent Appeal Panel ruled that the council had wrongly refused their children places at the school. The school was top of the borough’s league table in national curriculum tests at age 11 for the three years prior to 2005.
When inspected in 2009, the school was given the highest possible rating ''Outstanding'' by
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
. The school has won several awards including ''
Artsmark
Artsmark is the creative quality standard for schools and education settings, awarded by Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is ...
Gold'', ''Healthy Schools'' and ''Activemark Gold''.
In February 2010 the school was given a 'Level One Rights Respecting School' award by
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
on 3 February.
After inspecting again in November 2022, Ofsted gave the school the rank of ''Inadequate'' in their March 2023 report, attributing the change in rank to the leaders not "ensuring that
safeguarding
Safeguarding is a term used in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland to denote measures to protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals, which allow people—especially children, youth, young people and vulnerable ...
is effective throughout the school" and that "the leaders do not have the required knowledge to keep pupils safe from harm", adding that until the inspection, Ofsted was unaware of the "significant weaknesses in the school's arrangements to keep pupils safe." The change in the school's ranking was cited as a direct cause for the
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
of 53 year-old headteacher Ruth Perry.
Community involvement
Reading East MP Rob Wilson
Robert Owen Biggs Wilson (born 4 January 1965) is an English politician and political author. He was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for the Reading East parliamentary constituency in the 2005 general election, being re-elected in ...
met the
school council in October 2009.
It was announced, in September 2005, that a
memorial bench
A memorial bench, memorial seat or death bench is a piece of outdoor furniture which commemorates a dead person. Such benches are typically made of wood, but can also be made of metal, stone, or synthetic materials such as plastics. Typically mem ...
for murdered schoolgirl Emily Salvini, that was stolen in May 2004, had been found and will be rebuilt and returned to Caversham Primary.
See also
*
Murder of Emily Salvini – unsolved murder of a pupil that occurred only away from the school on Hemdean Road in 1997.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Primary schools in Reading, Berkshire
Educational institutions established in 1907
1907 establishments in England
Community schools in Reading, Berkshire