YOU are outstanding.
That’s Ofsted bosses’ view of St Francis Church of England Primary School at Valley Park, Chandler’s Ford.
Inspectors gave the 421 pupil school at Pilgrims Close top marks in nearly every category of their latest assessment.
The five inspectors led by Paul Rushforth judged the school “outstanding” in overall effectiveness, capacity for sustained improvement, leadership and management, as well as the quality of teaching.
Also outstanding was what the report describes as the “combination of a rich and stimulating curriculum and the teaching it provides for children in the early years foundation stage.”
Mr Rushforth said of the school: “It provides an exceptionally caring, enjoyable and well-rounded education for its pupils so that they develop into high achieving, thoughtful and responsible youngsters by the end of Year 6.”
He also praised head teacher Stephen Shepherd, describing his leadership as “inspirational” and “brilliant” in his report.
“His gentle but assertive approach, in partnership with highly effective senior leaders, ensures that all staff are clearly focused on pupils’ learning and continuous school improvement,” states Mr Rushforth.
In an additional letter to pupils he said: “We found that your school was outstanding.
It has several outstanding features which lead to excellent outcomes for you. We were very impressed with your excellent behaviour and your good attitude to learning in lessons and we noticed how kind and thoughtful you are to each other.”
The only thing the school has been asked to improve on is to ensure pupils learn about people from different cultures living in the UK.
Welcoming Ofsted’s findings, St Francis’s School’s chairman of Governors, Fiona Grove, said: “We have already started to take on the inspector’s findings. To improve even further we need to make sure the children learn about people who are from different cultures and also live in the United Kingdom. However, the report has put a huge smile on the face of everyone involved with the school as we prepare for Christmas.”
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