Ofsted report praises Tetbury school after recent inspection

This is a step up for St Mary’s Primary School, which had been given the ‘needs improvement’ rating at a previous inspection in January 2013.

‘Good’ is the second highest of the four ratings a school can receive, with ‘needs improvement’ third.

St Mary’s was awarded ‘good’ for all five categories of the inspection: leadership and management; behaviour and safety of pupils; quality of teaching; achievement of pupils; and early years provision.

After watching 15 lessons last month, inspectors found there had been improvement in every category.

Their report, published last week, stated: “Standards have risen steadily over the past two years and are above average. Most pupils make good progress because teaching is predominately good.

“Teachers’ expectations are high and their relationships with pupils are based on mutual trust and respect. Pupils benefit from teachers’ good subject knowledge and regular feedback.”

Headteacher Jo Woolley took over the running of the school in September 2013.

The report said of her: “[She] provides good leadership. Her determination, enthusiasm and ambition for the pupils and staff has been central to the school’s rapid improvement.”

Ms Woolley said that the children cheered when they heard the news.

“The report has lifted the whole school. All the parents have been really excited – it’s great for the school and it’s great for Tetbury,” she said.

She added: “We have worked hard as a team, introducing new ways of teaching, being more reflective and reviewing previous teaching.”

As well as the introduction of new ways of learning phonics and schemes to improve reading, the school has also benefited from a library funded by the community with the help of the parents and teachers association (PTA).

Modern learning techniques such as ICT lessons and the use of iPads to teach has also been beneficial.

Ms Woolley said: “Anything that makes the learning process more engaging and more interactive is good.”