St Mary and St Michael receives good ratings in all categories of Ofsted inspection

Thursday 18 April 2024

St Mary and St Michael Catholic Primary School has been rated as 'good' across all five categories of the Ofsted inspection framework.

These are: The Quality of Education; Behaviour and Attitudes; Personal Development and Welfare; Leadership and Management; and Early Years provision.

The school also recently received the report from its Catholic Schools Inspectorate, with grading as good in all categories as well.

Ofsted findings of St Mary and St Michael included that:

• Staff and pupils have strong relationships. Pupils are open with staff about any worries or difficulties.
• Pupils learn an ambitious curriculum which has been carefully designed to reflect the school's values. The school has updated the curriculum so that the detailed knowledge that pupils will learn is clear.
• Reading is central to the day-to-day life of the school. Pupils are encouraged to read a wide range of high quality, age-appropriate texts. They find this inspiring.
• Staff have a good understanding of how pupils learn and the difficulties they face. As a result, teaching supports pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to succeed.
• Staff recognise positive behaviours such as when each class appoints a Steward of the Week. This award acknowledges pupils who demonstrate the school s values, such as being kind.

In the section of the report dedicated to areas the school could improve, inspectors identified that the way the curriculum is taught sometimes reduces the progress pupils make, for example pupils do not learn to read as quickly as they could because their phonics

teaching is not consistently prioritised. Inspectors also found that assessment is not used effectively in every subject and some staff felt the school does not engage constructively with them to gain a better understanding of the pressures upon them.

The external inspection agreement with Ofsted grades categories from inadequate to requires improvement, good and excellent.

Helen Willetts, Headteacher of St Mary and St Michael Catholic Primary School, said:

'I am proud to say that we have received good outcomes for both our RE Inspection and Ofsted Inspection. I must give credit to the committed and hard-working team of staff, who go above and beyond every day to ensure that our pupils receive the best possible education. It is through their teamwork and dedication that we have achieved such wonderful outcomes. Also special thanks and appreciation to our pupils who behave exceptionally well and treat each other with respect and kindness. Their positive attitudes and eagerness to learn make our school a truly special place. I am so proud of what we have accomplished together and I am excited for the future as we continue to strive for excellence in everything we do.'

Nick Hynes, Director of Education, said:

'This Ofsted inspection report further evidences the quality of our primary school sector in Guernsey. I want to congratulate Helen and her team, as I know how hard it is to achieve good judgements in all five categories of the inspection framework. I'm sure parents will not be surprised with the report detailing that St Mary and St Michael is delivering a good quality of education for their children. As with all inspections, areas for improvement have been identified and I know Helen and her team will not rest on this good outcome.'

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, said:

'On behalf of the Committee I'd like to congratulate Helen and the entire team at St Mary and St Michael for this positive outcome. I hope the whole school community feels a sense of pride, as Ofsted inspections are challenging and a huge amount of work goes into them. With each inspection we are building up a good knowledge of the standard of education being delivered in our settings and clearly in the majority of cases there are very positive stories to tell.'

The full Ofsted report can be read at Inspections - States of Guernsey (gov.gg).

The school's Catholic Schools Inspectorate report can be read at Catholic Schools Inspectorate | St Mary & St Michael Catholic Primary School (stmary-stmichael.co.uk).

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