Ofsted praise for '˜extremely caring' school in new report

All Saints Junior Academy, in Githa Road, achieved a rating of ‘good’, following a two-day inspection visit by the watchdog in January.

In a report published last week, Ofsted praised all areas of the school, particularly its pastoral care and personal development work, which inspectors said meant pupils could rely on adults to help when they have problems in and outside the classroom.

The inspector said: “The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. There is an extremely caring ethos in the school.

“One parent told an inspector, ‘The school is caring, accepting and nurturing, and it feels safe’.”

Inspectors also praised the school’s teaching, saying its classrooms are “happy places to be” where children enjoy learning new things.

Ofsted’s findings has been welcomed by All Saints. Head teacher Katharine Hurd said: “As a school we are all incredibly pleased that the inspectors, on their visit, got a feel for what makes All Saints such a special place. Throughout the report the sense of unified purpose and collaboration between all members of the school community comes across very strongly. The outcome of the inspection is a testament to staff, pupils and parents past and present and reflects all of the hard work and determination which has gone into moving the school forward.

“The school has been outward looking when provision has needed improving and is now a ‘hub’ school and centre of best practice for the teaching of reading.

“We are ambitious for all of our children and resolved to continue to improve in order to give the children the education they deserve.”

To further improve, Ofsted ask the school to do more work to reduce the high number of absences, improve record-keeping for SEN pupils and continue to strengthen its improvement planning.

The inspection was the school’s first since joining the Diocese of Chichester multi-academy trust in January 2015. The school had previously been a maintained school, which had been rated as ‘requires improvement’ at its final inspection before re-opening as an academy.

The full report can be found on the Ofsted website.