Holy Family School gets improved rating from Ofsted

Patchway’s Holy Family RC Primary School has been rated “good” by Ofsted inspectors who visited the school last month.

Two inspectors observed a total of 20 lessons at the 174-pupil school, located in Amberley Road, Stoke Lodge.

Lead inspector Michael Merchant writes in his report:

“This is a good school. Pupils make good progress thanks to consistently good teaching and their good attitudes to learning. The school has improved considerably since its previous inspection and shows that young people can achieve well, irrespective of circumstance.”

Previously rated only “satisfactory” (in 2008), inspectors attribute the school’s improvement to the headteacher and leadership team:

“The school’s success has undoubtedly been brought about by the clear-sighted, principled, and approachable headteacher with strong support from her highly skilled leadership team.”

“Together, they drive improvement resolutely and with the best interests of the pupils in mind, raising the quality of teaching with conspicuous success through rigorous quality assurance linked to focused professional development.”

Despite the fact that they enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and abilities that are “well below the levels expected for their age”, pupils’ attainment by the end of Key Stage 2 is said to be “broadly average and rising”.

The large number of pupils of Traveller heritage are achieving well as a result of the very effective partnerships built up by the school with them and their families, say the inspectors.

Pupils are said to be well-behaved and the school community is described as “cohesive, purposeful and happy”.

Areas for improvement identified by the inspectors include “giving pupils more responsibility for their own learning” and ensuring that effective techniques to  teach writing and mathematics are employed consistently in all classes.

Related link: Schools in Patchway (The Journal)