Staff, pupils and parents at St Gregory's Catholic Primary School in Workington are celebrating this week after Ofsted Inspectors praised them for their hard work and achievements. The school has continued to improve in many areas since the last inspection and pupil's achievements are in line with the national trend.
Inspectors acknowledge through good teaching and good leadership and management, pupils make good progress during their time at the school. Provision in English is good and teaching in Mathematics is of good quality. Pupils achieve well in Science and the provision in Information Communication Technology is good. Also highlighted in the report is the school’s success in Physical Education which is due to the dedication of volunteer coach, Brian Golding.
Mrs Veronica Morgan, Chair of Governors said:
"The Governing Body is delighted with this report, especially because of the fine quality of teaching and the fact that we provide good value for money. The leadership of the Headteacher is good and he has high aspirations for the school, setting the tone by his drive, energy and vision.
"It was particularly pleasing to note that the Inspection Team found our links with the community very effective which contributes to the pupils learning and all-round personal development. Special mention was made regarding our strong links with our school and St Columbas School, Mazabuka, Zambia.
"Before the inspection the school had already identified through statistical analysis a weakness in problem solving in Mathematics. The school has organised a variety of activities to address this issue including involvement with a Primary Strategy Leaning Network organising inset, lesson observations and a stringent system of target setting. We will continue to improve the curriculum provision in this area. This includes the re-structuring of the curriculum leadership organisation and through this we will also improve the provision for more able pupils."
The main strengths and weaknesses in the report are as follows:
1. Teaching is good and enables pupils to achieve well
2. The Headteacher leads the school well
3. Pupils have good attitudes to school
4. Pupils spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is good
5. Improvements are needed to ensure Curriculum co-ordinators are more fully effective in the management of their subjects
6. Standards in Years 1 and 2 are below average in maths. Pupils in Years 3 to 6 do not apply their mental arithmetic skills sufficiently to solve mathematical problems
7. Improvements are needed in the assessment process to ensure work is matched to pupils' ability
8. Opportunities for pupils to take part in sporting activities out of school are very good