School celebrates after Ofsted visit

The governors and staff of St Mary Magdalene’s are delighted with the findings of the Ofsted inspectors, who visited the school in September.

Inspectors judged the school’s overall effectiveness to be “good” with a “good capacity for sustained improvement”.

In the space of three years the school has moved from an Ofsted category Notice to Improve to become a school that is “effective” and “provides a good education” for its pupils.

The report praised the role of the headteacher, leaders and managers who have engendered high morale and teamwork within the school and recognised as “outstanding” the efforts of the governing body.

The Ofsted report commended the ways in which the school cares for and supports its pupils and the extent of pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development, judging both to be “outstanding”.

Attainment was judged to be “above average in all core subjects” and the school is “making a significant difference to the pupils in its care”. Many other aspects were rated as “good”, including behaviour, achievement and community cohesion.

Areas for improvement identified by inspectors were to further raise the quality of teaching and learning and to enhance the quality of provision and outcomes in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Inspectors acknowledged that the school’s self-evaluation was good and that it had well conceived plans for further development.

Sylvia Cousins, chair of governors, said: “We are extremely pleased with this report as it clearly reflects the excellent progress made in recent years under the leadership of Trish Longmire.

“There has been a real sense of teamwork, collaboration and community spirit in our school and this positive outcome is well deserved.

“All of us associated with St Mary Magdalene’s – staff, governors, pupils and parents – can be proud of our school and we look forward to the future with confidence as we continue to provide a secure, happy and stimulating learning environment for our pupils.”