St
Michael's CofE Primary School, Dalston, achieves
a fantastic OFSTED report |
|
St
Michael's is described as an average sized primary
school. Socially and economically the area is
very normal and the attainment on entry is broadly
typical. The report recognises that the school
is very popular in the community and has close
links with the church, resulting in a long waiting
list of pupils seeking places. |
| |
| Ofsted
gradings range from Grade 1 (Outstanding) through
Grade 2 (Good), Grade 3 (Satisfactory) to Grade
4 (Inadequate). |
| |
| The
St Michael's 2006 Ofsted report grades the school
as follows: |
| |
| Overall
effectiveness of the school |
Grade:
1 |
The
report recognises that St Michael's is an outstanding
and hugely popular school, which in the last five
years has been in the top 5% of all schools nationally.
The report specifically mentions the outstanding
leadership and management which has created a
very popular and happy school. In 2006, 'well
over half of the Year 6 puplis exceeded national
expectations in reading and science, and half
did so in mathematics'. The report specifically
mentions the outstanding teaching throughout the
school. It goes on to praise the pupils, describing
them as 'wonderful' and 'keen to
take advantage of all that the school has to offer'. |
| |
|
| Achievements
and Standards |
Grade:
1 |
Ofsted
describes St Michael's achievement as outstanding,
consistently maintining standards which are 'exceptionally
and consistently high'. It goes on to say
that 'in 2006, over a third of pupils exceeded
the national average in English, half did so in
mathematics and over three-quarters did so in
science'. |
| |
|
| Personal
development and well-being |
Grade:
1 |
This
is another area where the report described the
pupil's personal development as being outstanding.
It adds 'so is their spiritual, moral, social
and cultural development. The combination of excellent
achievement and personal development creates a
heady mix of success that assuredly points to
puplis being able to look forward to a very bright
economic and personal future'. The inspector
was particularly pleased to see how active pupils
were and how energetic they were in the playground. |
| |
|
| Teaching
and learning |
Grade:
1 |
The
inspector thought that 'teaching and learning
are outstanding' There are no weak links
- in every class, pupils are helped to build fruitfully
on previous learning and success is is widely
celebrated. The report highlights how 'teachers
are meticulous in their preparation of tasks very
carefully matched to individual need'. |
| |
|
| Curriculum
and other activities |
Grade:
1 |
The
report states that 'the curriculum is outstanding.
All statutory requirements are met. The wonderful
success children achieve in English, mathematics,
science and information and communication technology
is not at the cost of progress in other subjects'.
It goes on to say that 'There is a very smooth
progress from Reception through Key Stage 1 and
into Key Stage 2 and pupils are exceptionally
well prepared for moving on to other schools'. |
| |
|
| Care,
guidance and support |
Grade:
1 |
This
is another category which the inspector considered
to be outstanding. St Michael's School pays great
attention to the health and safety of the children.
The school is meticulous in the quality of its
recruitment by employing 'only the best, most
reliable adults and by ensuring that potential
risk in all activities is identified and minimised'.
Staff make great efforts to identify learing difficulties
and/or disabilitiy and measures are quickly taken
to help pupils overcome them. Great emphasis is
placed on careful marking and pupils are assessed
so that they know how to improve. |
| |
|
| Leadership
and management |
Grade:
1 |
The
report highlights the excellence of leadership,
management and governance. It recognises the existence
of the school systems for promoting excellence
and that they are well-established and highly
effective. It goes on to say that 'the dedication
of staff and their determination to bring out
the best in all pupils stems directly from many
years of stable, thoughtful and inspirational
leadership. This is a highly popular school. Dalston
would normally be able to support a school of
half this size but its reputation is such that
that over half of all pupils come from further
afield'. This ensurs that 'thorough,
honest, self-evaluation helps leaders and managers
prevent any slippage in standards.' The report
underlines how the school is fully committed to
all learners and how it welcomes pupils of all
abilities, including those with learning dificulties
and/or some disablement. |
| |
|
Governors,
staff, parents, pupils themselves and the whole
of Dalston are immensely proud of St Michael's
CofE School, and congratulations are due to all
concerned. |
| |
The
material for this article was obtained from St
Michael's CofE Primary School Ofsted inspection
report number 289215 issued after an inspection
on 16th November 2006 by Mr Alistair Younger.
Full copies of the report can be obtained from
the Headmaster, St Michael's School, Dalston. |
| |
