Looking 'good' at Oldham schools

Nine Oldham primary schools are celebrating receiving 'Good' reports from Ofsted inspectors.

In the Autumn term, Ofsted visited the nine primary schools across the borough and carried out thorough inspections at St Paul's CofE Primary School, St Thomas CofE Primary School, Lyndhurst Primary Academy, Hodge Clough, SS Aidan & Oswald R.C., St Chad's Primary School, Horton Mill, EC St George, St Agnes and Holy Cross Primary Schools.

Two of the schools - St Thomas Werneth CofE Primary and St Paul's CofE Primary - had previously been rated as Requiring Improvement. 

And St Thomas, in Werneth, moved from Requiring Improvement to Good with some areas outstanding.

Angela Knowles, Head Teacher at St Thomas’, said: “We at St. Thomas’ are immensely proud of our whole school community, the work continually done, and the outcomes achieved.

"Our school priority has been to develop a bespoke curriculum tailored to the needs of our pupils. Ofsted acknowledged that our curriculum goes beyond academic learning, was well planned and contributed to the pupils’ excellent behaviour and positive approach to learning."

Hilary Henderson, Head Teacher at St. Paul's Primary in Royton, said: “The governors, staff, parents, pupils and I are extremely proud of our latest Ofsted Inspection recognising St. Paul's as a 'Good' school.

“Our inspection which took place within the first four days of the Autumn term enabled us to show the inspection team all the hard work and commitment that has supported our children’s learning journey.

“It also identified that St. Paul’s School is a wonderful happy community where reading is at the heart of everything we do and where there is a positive love of learning to shine and make a difference.”

Councillor Shaid Mushtaq, Oldham Council Lead for Education and Skills, said: “As a Council we are working with all schools across Oldham to continually raise education standards and this is great news that everyone’s hard work is making a difference to the lives of our young people.

“We are delighted that all the hard work put in by headteachers, staff, governors, parents, pupils has been rewarded with good Ofsted reports and they should all be very proud of their achievements.”

Adrian Calvert, Education Partnership Leader for the Oldham Education Partnership, said: “The Ofsted Inspections focused on the real substance of education: the curriculum. Inspectors spent less time looking at test data, and more time looking at what is taught and how it is taught. They considered how schools achieved their outcomes.

“These nine Oldham Primary Schools really excelled, and this shows we are definitely on the right path in Oldham ensuring our children are being given the best start in life in terms of education and learning.”

A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “We want to make sure that good results come from teaching a broad, rich curriculum. We want to reflect real learning, not just intensive preparation for a test or to move up to the next ‘stage’. Ofsted grades reflect the areas that matter most to parents: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.”