St. Mary’s was visited by the school’s inspectorate, Ofsted, at the end of January this year. This was a two-day inspection to assess whether the school continues to be rated ‘Good’, following their last rating in 2022. During their visit, inspectors observed lessons and spoke with leaders, staff, pupils and parents.

Following the inspection, St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School was judged as continuing to be a ‘Good’ school.

Kerry Scott, Headteacher at St. Mary’s, said: “While the success of a school can’t be judged solely from an inspection report, it’s wonderful to see acknowledged the hard work of our staff and their hugely positive impact on our children’s happiness and wellbeing, as well as their academic success.”

“I’m so proud of how we, as a community of staff, pupils and parents, continually work together to bring our school vision 'In God's light, we love, learn and grow together' to life, and provide an environment which prepares our pupils as confident, happy citizens. We’re always looking for ways in which we can support our pupils to thrive and flourish and will continue to enhance our provision in collaboration with our community.”

The report highlighted lots for the school to be proud of, including:

• “Pupils said that their teachers are caring. There are positive relationships between pupils and staff”. They also “enjoy coming to school and do so regularly. Pupils show an equally positive attitude to their learning.”
• “Pupils said that they appreciate being in a small school like this. They feel that it helps them to form closer bonds with other pupils.”
• “The school fosters a genuine love of reading and makes it a high priority. Books are given pride of place around the building”… “The school provides excellent, highly focused levels of additional support to pupils who need extra help with learning to read. This means that the vast majority of pupils quickly become fluent, confident readers.”
• “Since the last inspection, the school has raised its expectations for what pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can achieve.”
• “Pupils have access to wide a range of extra-curricular opportunities that include art, drama and sports clubs”. “They [pupils] appreciate the additional curriculum trips and residential visits that the school organises for them. Pupils take part in many charitable activities such as foodbank collections and coffee mornings.”
• “The school caters particularly well for pupils’ personal development. Pupils develop a strong understanding of how to look after their own mental well-being. They know how to develop safe, positive relationships with others. They know how to stay safe online.”

Areas for improvement were identified as developing the Early Years curriculum beyond the evolution in maths and phonics teaching, which is already done “consistently well”, refining approaches to evaluating the delivery of some curriculums and developing further curriculum guidance for teachers in mixed-aged classes.

Scott added: “Overall, this is a fantastic report, and we will incorporate the feedback into our existing programmes for improvements to curriculum delivery as we continue to work with pace and purpose to make St. Mary’s the very best school it can be.”