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Posted on: 5/10/2018

St Stephen Churchtown elated

St Stephen Churchtown Academy is feeling rather chuffed following a recent Ofsted inspection.  Rated Inadequate back in February 2015, the school joined the Aspire Academy Trust in the September of that year, and embarked on a tough journey of self-improvement, one that required tireless hard graft, commitment, dedication and diligent professionalism. To achieve ‘Good’ in every category is testament to this tremendous effort and shines a light on St Stephen Churchtown Academy’s determination to provide the very best possible teaching and learning opportunities for its pupils within a new culture of aspiration and positivity. Report highlights include: Effectiveness of leadership and management Leaders have established strong values and a culture of high expectations for all pupils Personalised professional development for staff has led to strong progress for pupils Leaders achieve their ambition for an inclusive school with a harmonious and purposeful atmosphere Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Teaching staff share leaders’ unwavering drive to provide the children…with a good education Teaching assistants are highly skilled Speech and language therapy support is extremely effective Personal development, behaviour and welfare Pupils show high levels of respect towards each other and adults Leaders support an ethos of harmony and actively prevent discrimination Pupils are unanimous in saying they feel safe Outcomes for pupils Published outcomes by the end of KS2 show that pupils’ progress is consistently good Effective support and intervention have speeded up the progress of disadvantaged pupils Pupils achieve well from their starting points because of teachers’ effective assessment and their well targeted pans and activities Early Years Provision Children’s listening and attention and health and self-care skills are well developed In 2018 more children made high rates of progress to exceed the early learning goals in writing… Children play and work well together. They persevere and concentrate well   Senior Head of School Mr Simon Welch comments: “We are thrilled with the overall judgement of GOOD, underpinned with ‘Good’ judgements in all areas of the Ofsted framework.  It is especially pleasing to see so many incredibly positive comments about our teaching staff and our pupils. I am really proud of the staff who have strived continually to ensure that this outcome has been possible, as well as being proud to be part of the Aspire family of schools who have supported St Stephen Churchtown Academy so effectively. As a school community we should be very proud of this report and I thank parents and carers for their patience and the support they have given the school to help move it forward too.” The ‘Good’ judgement by no means signals ‘job done’, complacency is not St Stephen Churchtown’s style.  The Trust and school leadership teams share a passionate, united vision to deliver outstanding education for all its pupils and there is constant room for improvement, as noted in the final Ofsted Report.  Today is cause for celebration and grateful thanks to parents, staff, pupils and the wider community of St Stephen Churchtown.  Tomorrow the drive to further improve progress and attainment of each and every child continues. A full copy of the OFSTED Report (October 2018) is available at http://www.ststephenchurchtown.org.uk/website/ofsted/181831 A hard copy is available from the school office on request. Written by Aspire