St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Ryde has received glowing praise following a recent Ofsted inspection, with the school now rated ‘Good’ overall and ‘Outstanding’ in Personal Development.
Inspectors visited the school over 2 days and highlighted its positive environment, noting:
“St Mary’s is a warm and welcoming school. Its key aims are for pupils to be happy and successful. Pupils constantly demonstrate the school’s well-embedded mission of ‘live, love, believe’. In this, pupils naturally show the values of kindness, respect and equality.”
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This marks a significant improvement from the school’s previous rating of ‘Requires Improvement’.
Executive Headteacher Mrs Sanderson said:
“Mrs Broome and the whole team at St Mary’s have worked so hard to ensure that the learning opportunities for all children are aspirational and exciting. It was really pleasing that Ofsted recognised ‘The school has had a dogged focus on improvement since the last inspection. It has implemented a curriculum that typically details the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils will learn and when.’”
Inspectors also praised the wide range of opportunities offered to pupils, stating:
“Pupils’ talents are developed through an array of opportunities, including musical, sporting and creative options. Pupils are open and accepting to different views and understand that people should be treated fairly.”
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The report also acknowledged the role of the Governing Body in guiding the school through a challenging educational landscape.
Head of School Mrs Broome added that the progress reflects a joint effort from staff, families and especially pupils:
“We are proud to see the outstanding judgement as it highlights the children’s development and how they have taken a positive role within this at St Mary’s: ‘Through these varied roles, and many other opportunities, pupils develop an exceptionally strong sense of character. They learn to understand how they can make a positive and genuine difference to their school, the local area and beyond.”
Mrs Sanderson concluded:
“At St Mary’s we will continue to develop, and the areas Ofsted have suggested for next steps were already identified in the school improvement plan.”
