OFSTED REPORT RECOGNISES PORTER CROFT C of E PRIMARY ACADEMY AS ‘AN OUTSTANDING SCHOOL’

Porter Croft Church of England Primary Academy is delighted to announce the findings of its recent Ofsted inspection on March 4 and 5 2015, which recognised the outstanding progress that children make at the Academy and categorises it as an ‘outstanding school’ in all areas.

Just seven years ago the school was facing substantial challenges and was causing concern to the Local Authority. In this report however, inspectors highlighted the Academy’s outstanding leadership and the ‘exciting curriculum’ as some of the key reasons it is performing so well.

The Academy’s Headteacher, Mr. Jim Dugmore, said: “I am so pleased that our wonderful children, supportive parents and excellent staff and Governors have been recognised in this way.

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“We feel so privileged to work with such a vibrant community and coming to work every day with such hard working children is always a pleasure. That the staff have had the quality of provision recognised as ‘outstanding’ across the board rightly acknowledges the continued effort that they put in to ensure our children receive a top quality education. Having the Ofsted rating is of course brilliant but I am so pleased that they day to day approach has been captured, describing the Quality of Teaching as ‘outstanding’ too.”

Responding to the findings of the Ofsted inspection, Mr. Dugmore said: “We are delighted with the report. It reflects the significant progress the Academy has made and the commitment and hard work of staff, learners and their families. Porter Croft is a fantastic place to work and I feel privileged to be the Headteacher here.

“We have so much to be proud of at the Academy thanks to the personal dedication of all our staff and governor team, and I would also say that we are really grateful for the efforts of parents, as well as pupils, who are incredibly supportive of what we do.”

You can read the full report by clicking here.

Highlights from the Ofsted report include:
All groups of pupils make outstanding progress in reading, writing, mathematics and many other subjects throughout the academy.
The quality of teaching is outstanding. Lessons are very well planned and work is accurately matched to the needs of pupils of all abilities. Teaching assistants make an excellent contribution to pupils’ learning.
Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They are polite and considerate towards others. They feel very safe and well cared for. The very good relationships throughout the academy reflect the academy motto, ‘Together we are Porter Croft.’
The exciting curriculum strongly promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils have a very good understanding of values such as resilience, tolerance and justice and are extremely well prepared for life in modern Britain. The academy is building further international links.
The headteacher provides clear and inspiring leadership. He is very well supported by middle leaders, senior leaders and the governing body whose work is excellent. As a result, the academy is providing a consistently high quality of education to this diverse community.
There is a rigorous and highly effective pursuit of high standards in all aspects of the academy’s work. The headteacher and his deputy headteacher provide passionate and inspiring leadership and have high expectations for all their staff and pupils. As a result, pupils are ambitious and aim high. Their personal development is promoted extremely well in this culturally diverse community. The academy’s good reputation is reflected in the increasing numbers on roll.
The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. They listen attentively and are proud of their own and each other’s achievements. Pupils are very polite and considerate towards each other and they respond extremely well to the care that all adults show them.
Excellent relationships with pupils and their parents are well established from the beginning of every child’s first contact with the academy. This underpins many aspects of pupils’ rapid progress.
Pupils have extremely positive attitudes to learning. They move quickly and efficiently to their tasks and work extremely well with others. They work very hard and often produce an exceptional quantity of well-presented work. When they assess and mark their own work, they do so with care and integrity. They take their many roles, such as mathematical ambassadors, play leaders and academy councillors, seriously and provide constructive support to each other.
Marking and feedback make an excellent contribution to pupils’ progress and their ability to improve their own work. Teachers set precise and challenging targets for pupils to achieve and use marking well to guide them to the next steps in learning. They make certain that pupils have time to address any issues raised and eradicate any errors.
Teachers have very high expectations for all groups of learners. This is evident in the pride pupils take in presenting all their work to a high standard and seeking constant improvement.
Pupils learn in a calm working atmosphere from the early years onwards. They know that they come to the academy to learn and are ready and able to do so. They are encouraged by the purposeful and positive relationships the headteacher and his staff have established.

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