Stilton Primary School rated good in latest Ofsted report - five years after being placed in special measures

There have been celebrations at a school near Peterborough after they were given a ‘good’ Ofsted rating following their latest inspection – five years after being placed into special measures.

Inspectors were impressed by the improvements made at Stilton CofE Primary Academy.

Executive headteacher Clara King said: “The whole school is absolutely delighted with the result of this Ofsted inspection.

“It shows the incredible amount of hard work and dedication the entire team puts into making Stilton the wonderful school it is.

“We are dedicated to making sure that our pupils access the best education experience possible and will continue to build on this even further.

“A big thank you to our brilliant students who enjoy school and work so hard and to everyone in the community who supports us.

“We have lifted standards across the board, implementing the development of subject leadership, making sure our pupils are receiving a knowledge rich curriculum which is taught to be remembered and that leaders are able to effectively monitor that this takes place across all areas of the curriculum.”

Inspectors praised the work of staff, saying: “Staff have strong subject knowledge and are confident in their teaching. This means that pupils can ask questions and receive responses from their teachers to further embed and deepen new learning. Pupils regularly feed back what they are thinking and what they have learned so far in each lesson.”

The inspectors also said the ‘ethos’ of the school was carried through in lessons, saying: “Pupils at Stilton ‘flourish through friendship’, as their school motto suggests. The listening and caring ethos encouraged throughout the school supports pupils to be confident and achieve well. Expectations of pupils are high; this includes for those

pupils with special educational need and/or disabilities.”

Mrs King said: “The school worked incredibly hard during the pandemic to ensure the children were getting the same high-quality experience we expect. This involved daily live Zoom lessons for every class, guided sessions for those who needed additional learning support and daily check ins with vulnerable families.

“Communication was key and a strength of the school during this time. Keeping close contact during a difficult time to ensure pupils were getting the right support and progressing well was paramount.”

To read the report, visit www.ofsted.go.uk