9/2/2010 - Ofsted honours Cumbrian school as one of the best in England

A Cumbrian school which uses the great outdoors to raise educational standards has been honoured at an Ofsted awards ceremony recognising outstanding providers in England.

Rod Coy, headteacher at Eaglesfield Paddle CE Primary School, just outside Cockermouth, attended the event at Manchester Town Hall, which was hosted by Christine Gilbert, her Majesty’s Chief Inspector.

Rod, who has been head at the school for 20 years, said: “We are incredibly proud to be recognised in this way and it’s not something we’ve achieved without a great deal of effort from a lot of people.”

Teachers at Eaglesfield Paddle, which has now been judged outstanding four times in a row, often take learning out of the traditional classroom setting, with pupils encouraged to make use of the 20 acre grounds and regular residential trips at locations across the stunning Cumbrian countryside.

There are 4,020 schools, colleges, childcare and social providers in England judged to be outstanding in 2008/9 – over 1,000 more than the previous year.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, said: “I wholly congratulate Eaglesfield Paddle CE Primary School on its success and hard work in delivering such high standards. Excellence does not happen by chance. These schools have a real drive to inspire, challenge and support children and young people. But there is no reason why everyone can’t be outstanding. I hope they will be a source of inspiration to others.”

Mr Coy said: “We like to give children plenty of opportunities to experience their local environment and often use the grounds for activities like orienteering – we even used it for sledging during the recent cold spell.

“Being a good school is about giving each child confidence in their own abilities and giving them every opportunity to extend themselves. A lot of our children will be working in jobs which don’t even exist yet, so we ensure that our children have the opportunity to use the latest information technology. We regularly use state-of-the-art videoconferencing equipment to conference with other schools, museums and galleries. We are also piloting new internet safety procedures to ensure our children are always safe when using the internet.”

The school managed to avoid the flood damage which devastated much of the area last November and the pupils helped to raise money for the flood relief fund.

Mr Coy said: “We were extremely lucky to avoid damage when the floods came and to be able to stay open as a school. Some of our pupils’ families saw their homes and business destroyed and coming to school everyday helped the children maintain a sense of normality.”

All those who appear on the Outstanding Providers list 2008/09 receive commemorative certificates and are authorised to use an exclusive “outstanding provider” logo. 

ENDS