Village school is given thumbs up by inspector
STUART PIKE
AVILLAGE primary school is celebrating after receiving a glowing report from Ofsted.
The watchdog said St John’s Stonefold in Rising Bridge ‘remains good’ following the inspection in mid-March and that the ‘leadership has maintained the good quality of education since the last inspection in 2013.’
It was also noted that the school is ‘caring and inclusive’ and that the teachers ‘make learning fun.’ Safeguarding was also praised as highly effective, as was the way governors effectively monitor the school and ask searching questions.
Staff have been trained to teach reading more effectively and the results have ‘borne fruit’, according to the inspector John Nixon.
His report said: “The quality of teaching has improved.
“Many staff are new to the school since the last inspection. You have selected staff carefully to meet the needs of the school. Appropriate training has developed teachers’ subject knowledge and skills well in teaching English, mathematics and science.”
In order to move to outstanding, the school now needs to stretch the more able in science and make minor adjustments to phonics teaching. Ofsted also asked for information on the school website to be kept up to date.
Headteacher Stephen Oldfield said they were “very pleased” with the report. He added: “It is the result of a lot of hard work from a dedicated team, and it is good to know we have only slight adjustments to make to our practice. Funding cuts mean small schools really feel the effects, so to maintain our standards while improving the standard of teaching since the last inspection is something I am proud of.
“We have become a very popular school over the last four years, with our numbers increasing from 104 to 130, and we are lucky to have a strong supportive community. We also have a unique curriculum and a creative approach to everything.”
The school has raised money for five-year-old Esmee Whiteside, who is suffering from a rare form of cancer.
Parents and children baked ‘ Esmee Cakes’ to support the little girl, who is the grandchild of one of the parents in school.
The community also recently helped the school raise £1,200 for Medequip For Kids as the children completed a sponsored read while dressed as their favourite book characters.