Ofsted inspected our school on the 16th October 2018: the outcomes of this short inspection can be found here. Please take time to read the whole report; it is just 4 pages long.

This is a summary of key points

St Blaise continues to be GOOD SCHOOL because of:

  • ‘inspirational and dedicated leadership’ resulting in staff being ‘proud to work’ in the school
  • having a ‘accurate view of the school’s effectiveness’ and a ‘reflective approach to understanding how to develop the school further’
  • ‘a strong and nurturing ethos, where diversity is celebrated’.

 

The good relationships between staff and pupils and parents were highlighted:

  • ‘pupils love their small and caring school’
  • pupils are ‘keen to discuss their learning, which they enjoy’
  • ‘parents are also complimentary about the school’ … ‘they put the children’s needs first and really focus on giving them the best education possible’.

 

Continued strengths of the school and improvements since the last inspection include:

  • early years provision – ‘children get off to a flying start in Reception and make strong progress’
  • effective governance – ‘governors regularly visit the school to see for themselves the impact that leaders have on school improvement. They are very strategic in their approach to decision-making’
  • middle leaders role in improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment
  • inclusiveness of the school ensuring special educational needs pupils and those with disabilities make strong progress
  • a commitment to all pupils being given the opportunity to ‘be the very best they can be’
  • the broad and balanced curriculum, which is ‘thoughtfully designed and a strength of St Blaise’.

 

Next steps for our school are to ensure:

  • pupils have more opportunities to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills in mathematics throughout the school, so that pupils make even better progress and attain highly
  • teaching consistently challenges pupils, particularly the most able, to reach higher standards.