Ofsted Reports
“The headteacher and staff have built a harmonious learning community, where pupils are very safe and secure, love learning and behave well.” Ofsted 2017
We are delighted to announce that following the Ofsted Inspection on September 19th 2017, St Mary’s has been judged to be a Good school under the Ofsted framework.
This is fantastic news and we say a HUGE thank you and CONGRATULATIONS to all of our dedicated staff, children, families, governors and school partners who show great devotion and commitment to St Mary’s school, day in and day out. Well done!
The Ofsted inspection letter highlights many of the school’s wonderful strengths including:
- Pupils make good progress, particularly through key stage 2. By the end of Year 6, pupils achieve exceptionally well in reading, writing and mathematics
- In 2017, teachers’ assessments at the end of Year 2 showed improvement on previous years, and with a significant increase in the proportion of pupils writing at greater depth
- Pupils are very confident that the school is a safe place and that adults in school have their interests at heart
- Pupils in the playground play well together and are confident that everyone behaves well and that bullying is not something they see
- Many parents refer to the school’s family atmosphere. This is at the heart of the school
- The curriculum is planned well across the school to ensure that pupils receive a broad and balanced curriculum while at the same time developing their literacy and numeracy skills
- Good and well-managed interventions make sure that low-attaining pupils make rapid progress and catch up with their peers
- Teachers ensure that while pupils develop their subject knowledge across subjects, there are many opportunities for pupils to use and apply their reading and writing skills, researching information and writing through different subjects
- The vision you have created, and which the whole school community has implemented, gives pupils an environment where they can learn and be both happy and safe
- The relationship between teachers and pupils gives pupils the confidence that they are cared for and safe
- Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are thorough
- Risk assessments are routine for any visits away from the school. Good planning is in place and staff are fully briefed on what to do if a serious incident happens while they are away from the school site
- Governors are very active and supportive of the school. They ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to achieve well and learn the values of care and respect
- Although attendance is not improving significantly, the number of pupils who are persistently absent are well supported.
St Mary’s has two next steps linked to greater consistency in use of assessment. Leaders and governors will build on these in our school improvement plan to ensure that:
- Greater consistency is introduced in both the challenge and support provided for pupils through the early years and key stage 1 to improve continuity of progress in writing, particularly for the most able pupils
- Assessment is used consistently well to ensure that all pupils are appropriately challenged through key stage 1, and that teaching consistently builds on pupils’ prior learning to secure good progress and high achievement.
With an Ofsted framework that has higher expectations than before, we are delighted with the successful outcome of the Ofsted inspection. St Mary’s has seen very successful and sustained improvements over the years thanks to the dedication of our highly skilled staff, children, school partners, families and governors.