YOU STARS!
Ofsted inspectors praise primary school
A PRIMARY school where children ‘feel safe and happy’ has been praised for its improvements.
Ofsted inspectors have now rated Star Academy, in Sandyford, as good in all areas.
They visited the school in September, three years on from a previous inspection which saw it rated as ‘requires improvement’. In a recently-published report, inspectors praised the clear sense of community and pupils’ behaviour.
The report states that pupils at the Burnaby Road school recognise the ‘value of kindness and are polite and respectful to others’. It states: “Pupils form positive relationships with their friends and staff.
“Pupils know adults will help them sort out any fallouts, which means bullying is rare.”
Inspectors noticed that pupils follow the school ethos closely through learning.
The report states: “Experiences such as visits to museums help pupils to remember their learning.
“In their learning, pupils reflect the school vision ‘desire to learn, learn to achieve’ when they talk about what they know. For example, pupils confidently explain their learning across different subjects.
“Leaders have high expectations of staff and pupils. They provide a broad curriculum, which extends to activities out of school time.
“Pupils enjoy attending these activities and speak positively about them. Staff encourage pupils to be independent and responsible.
“Pupils are encouraged to play a part in wider school life. For example, the ‘junior leaders’ programme develops pupils’ leadership skills.”
Star Academy takes children from the age of three up to 11 (Year Six) and has 209 pupils on the school roll. The report notes that reading is a ‘high priority’.
It states: “Teachers choose and read books that support pupils in other areas of the curriculum. Pupils enjoy reading a wide range of books.
“Support given to pupils at the early stages of reading enables them to make progress and catch up.”
However, inspectors did find improvements could be made in some areas. The report said: “A relatively new phonics curriculum is in place.
“Phonics teaching starts as soon as pupils start school. The sounds that pupils learn build on what they know.
“Where phonics teaching is effective, pupils make progress and build on the sounds that they know well. However, this is not the case for all pupils.
“Some staff do not teach the phonics programme fully in the way it is intended, and activities are not matched well enough to develop what pupils already know.
“Some subject leaders are very new to their roles. They are yet to check in detail how well their subjects are being taught. As a result, some leaders have limited understanding of what is working well in subjects.”
Principal Sara Bloor said: “We are delighted with our report and I feel it is a testament to all the hard work that goes on at Star and in the trust. We have a fantastic team of staff, who work extremely hard to provide a positive, nurturing environment in which our children can learn, develop and thrive.
“We don’t just focus on the academic progress that our children make, but also their personal development. There are several comments throughout our report that uphold how amazing our children are.
“Our children enjoy coming to school, they desire to learn to achieve, they celebrate each other’s differences and are wellmannered. Furthermore, they are developing qualities that will shape them into well-rounded individuals who will be prepared to take their place in society.”