A Wareham primary school has been praised by inspectors.
Wareham St Mary CofE Primary School was given a rating of “good” after a two-day inspection in May this year.
It was previously ranked as “requiring improvement” after the last visit from Ofsted in May 2018. The school has since become part of the Coastal Learning Partnership and a new headteacher – Nicole Davids – was appointed in April.
Inspectors said the school, recovering from the Covid pandemic, wanted “all pupils to reach their potential and offer a wealth of opportunities for each child to succeed”.
They added: “All members of the school share a firm understanding of the high expectations for behaviour.
“Pupils and staff talk clearly about the use of the school’s behaviour system. There is rarely low-level disruption and pupils say that teachers deal swiftly with this if it should happen.”
The report also highlighted a “positive and caring culture” at the school, with no bullying and “overwhelmingly supportive” parents. Teaching was also praised, with particular focus put on maths and reading, with leaders fostering a “love of reading for pupils”.
The report said the school could improve further by addressing “too much variety” in the way pupils experienced the curriculum, and by developing ways of assessing whether pupils were making the progress they intended.
In addition to the positive Ofsted report, the school was also ranked “good” after a statutory inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) by the Church of England Education Office for the 2021-22 academic year.
Head teacher Ms Davids said: “We are proud to see that our school’s core values have shone through in both reports.”
The report from the Church of England highlighted how school leaders were ‘totally dedicated to their work with a passion to a make a difference for every pupil’, enabling ‘children to flourish’.
Ms Davids added: “We couldn’t be prouder of how our school and our wider school community are reflected in these two reports. We are dedicated to continuing the good work.”
The full Ofsted report is at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/142167.