Tuesday 26 April 2022
Vale Primary School has received an extremely positive external inspection report from Ofsted.
The school has been rated as 'good' in all five categories of the new inspection framework. These are: The Quality of Education; Behaviour and Attitudes; Personal Development and Welfare; Leadership and Management; and Early Years provision.
Ofsted's report highlights that:
- School leaders and staff place children at the centre of all decisions they make.
- The school's curriculum 'inspires and prepares pupils well for the next stage of their education'.
- Pupils are polite, kind and caring to each other and are taught to 'treat others as you would want them to treat you'.
- Children say bullying does not happen and they feel safe at the school.
- The well-being of children, parents and staff has a high profile at the school.
- Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with staff receiving regular training.
Inspectors identified only two areas where the school could improve. These were to further develop teachers' subject knowledge in some areas of the curriculum, and to develop individual targets for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to ensure that they are not too broad, but more specific.
The new external inspection agreement with Ofsted was put in place last year. Vale Primary School is the first school to be inspected following its introduction. The inspection grading categories range from inadequate to requires improvement, good and excellent.
Gary Hind, Vale Primary School Headteacher, said:
'To receive good ratings in all five inspection categories is no mean feat and we are delighted to have this recognised by Ofsted. Such positive outcomes across the board speaks to the tremendous dedication of our staff, children and whole school community. The last two years have been hugely challenging for all those who work in education as we have had to adapt to ever-changing circumstances as a result of the pandemic. Having our school's hard-work to continue delivering excellent outcomes for children recognised by this external inspection is fantastic. I'm very proud to lead this school, and fortunate to work alongside so many wonderful colleagues and pupils.'
Nick Hynes, Director of Education, said:
'This Ofsted inspection report is a credit to Gary and his team for continually and consistently putting children first. Meeting the needs of all our young people should be at the heart of everything we do in education, whether this is setting policy, developing curriculum or creating a school culture to help them thrive, and clearly that is the focus at Vale Primary School. I would like to thank all staff at the school who despite working under challenging circumstances over the last two years have achieved such a positive external inspection report.'
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, said:
''The Committee is really pleased with the outcome of the first inspection under our new Ofsted framework. External inspection is crucial to ensure that the community is clear about the standards being achieved by our settings and this is also a core part of our Education Strategy. Although we deferred the commencement of Ofsted's formal inspections as a consequence of the COVID pandemic this report shows that it was absolutely the right time and entirely appropriate to begin the inspection cycle. I want to publicly congratulate Gary and his staff for this very positive outcome.'
The full report can be read at Inspections - States of Guernsey (gov.gg
