South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 25/03/2015

Staff and pupils at Cherry Garden Primary School in Bitton are celebrating after receiving a positive report from schools inspector Ofsted.

Inspectors visited the school in February and awarded an overall rating of ‘good’, with all of the five individual areas reviewed also assessed as ‘good’.

Inspectors stated: “Pupils make good progress because the quality of teaching is good. Staff, pupils and parents are very happy with the school.” Adding: “Pupils enjoy school because the subjects they learn are interesting. They have a good understanding of life in modern Britain.”

The school was last inspected in October 2009, and since then, a new headteacher and deputy headteacher have taken up posts. Headteacher Phil Winterburn, who joined the school in September 2011, said: “This is a great outcome for the school which recognises the hard work and commitment of our entire staff. We are proud that Ofsted have recognised the excellent work the school is doing for its pupils and community.”

Commenting on the school’s leadership and management, inspectors noted: “Leaders and managers, including governors, are successfully ensuring that the school is on a rapid journey of improvement.” The strong team ethos established by leaders at the school was also singled out. “All adults in school are proud to be members of the school team and are very supportive of the changes that have taken place.”

The effectiveness of the governing body was also praised with the report stating: “They hold leaders to account and make sure the school is constantly striving to improve.” Chair of Governors, Paul Iles, said: “This is a proud moment for our school which reflects the excellent work of our staff and pupils.”

The report also praised the school’s early years provision, leadership and management, quality of teaching, the achievement of pupils, and the behaviour and safety of pupils, all of which were judged to be ‘good’.

Ofsted applies a judgement of ‘good’ where a school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils in ‘good’ rated schools are considered to be well prepared for the next stage of their education.

To secure an outstanding judgement, the school now needs to work on: giving pupils time to respond to advice teachers give them when they mark their work, improving teachers’ subject knowledge of punctuation and grammar and giving the most-able pupils work which extends their understanding.

The report can be viewed online at www.ofsted.gov.uk