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St Margaret Ward
Catholic Academy
St Margaret Ward
Catholic Academy
We’re delighted to be able to share that following our recent OFSTED inspection in January we have been judged to be at ‘Expected Standard’.
This is a result all our young people should be proud of and we congratulate them on their conduct during the recent inspection and their honest feedback on the work of their school.
The inspection framework for schools was revised in September and inspections under this new framework began at the start of December; St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy was one of the first wave of schools in the country to be inspected under this new framework.
OFSTED have completely changed their approach to inspection and you will note that the traditional gradings of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ (which have been used for the past 25 years) have now been replaced with a new set of measures.
The new ‘expected standard’ is an exceptionally high bar. Whilst it cannot be fully compared to the old grading system it is deemed to be a very strong good on the old measures.
The new ‘strong standard’ is a higher bar again and has been described by some as outstanding plus, plus against the old measures.
St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy has been judged to be at expected standard in all areas, these include:
In the areas of Attendance, Behaviour, Leadership, Governance and Personal development the school narrowly missed out on a strong judgment due to the secure fit approach which means all standards in the strong category must be fully met to secure a strong judgement. Unfortunately, because we are judged on a secure fit (all standards fully met) and not best fit (most standards met) we just fell just short of strong in these areas.
With this new framework it is anticipated that schools will have areas of their provision identified as needs attention, we have no areas in this category. This is not to suggest the school does not have areas it needs to work on and leaders and governors remain relentless in their work to provide the highest quality education for our young people.
Please read the wonderful commentary on our school which captures the essence of our community; including the section on what it is like to be a pupil at St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy. Some highlights from the report include the following:
“This is a welcoming school where pupils’ best interests are nurtured. Pupils benefit from a strong culture of care that is evident across the school. Pupils feel safe and valued. They speak confidently about the warm relationships they have with staff. Positive interactions between staff and pupils are a notable feature of the school.”
“Expectations for behaviour and conduct are clear and understood by all. Pupils rise to these high standards and take responsibility for helping one another meet them. Pupils enjoy calm, orderly classrooms where learning is the focus and disruption is rare. Pupils enjoy being part of the school community and attend very well. They want to be in school and trust staff to respond quickly and effectively to any concerns.”
“Leaders are ambitious for all pupils. Pupils benefit from a culture of high expectations that prepares them well for life in modern Britain.