Primary school goes from inadequate to outstanding

A PRIMARY school has become the first ever to leap from inadequate to outstanding, after a change of head teacher.

Croft CE Primary School received the “inadequate” rating in 2015 from the Church of England schools watchdog Siams.

But just three years later the school did what no other had done before by getting its rating to the top one possible without even passing through phases of being “adequate” or “good”.

In their latest report, which follows an inspection in March, they said: “Croft Church of England Primary is a warm, friendly and happy school with a strong family ethos.

“Changes in leadership over the last three years have had a significant impact on transforming the distinctive Christian character of the school and, as a result, it is evident that all members of the school community proudly value the importance of being a church school.

“As a consequence, relationships between all members of the school community have strengthened and this is ensuring that the Christian ethos of the school has a high profile across the wider community.”

The school, in Brookes Avenue, Croft, has 130 pupils with another 30 children attending their pre-school.

All Church of England schools have regular Siams inspections, which look at three specific areas - how the school meets the needs of the pupils, the effectiveness of leadership and the impact of collective worship on the school community.

The report states that Croft children have “high standards of achievement, exemplary behaviour and positive relationships” and praises the “inspirational leadership” of the new headteacher Trudie Colotto in transforming the school.

It also praised “her promotion of a deeply Christian vision” that the school was lacking at the time of the previous inspection, which was carried out when the school had no permanent head.

Mrs Colotto said the improvement was down to the hard work and dedication of the staff and the support from the parents and the community of Croft.

She said: “Our strength lies in our mutual determination to do the very best job we can for each and every pupil in our school every minute of every day.”

The Diocese of Leicester confirmed that Croft CE Primary School were the first school in the country to jump in from “inadequate” to “outstanding”.

The school is also inspected by Ofsted every five years. The 2011 Ofsted report described the school as “good” and so did the report in 2016.