Children's experiences at La Mare de Carteret Primary have been described as 'outstanding' in the school's recent independent inspection report published today.
The school has been awarded four judgements of 'excellent' and two of 'very good' in the six areas that are evaluated. This has been described as 'exceptional' by Education Officers as an evaluation of 'excellent' applies to provision which is 'sector leading, representing an outstanding standard of provision which exemplifies very best practice and is worth disseminating beyond the school'.
'The purposeful and joyous learning is developing happy, friendly children who are successful learners,' states the Report.
The validation was carried out by a team of three HM Inspectors who spent three days in the school earlier this month observing lessons, talking with learners and looking at their work, engaging in discussions with staff and parents, looking at school records and other documentation, and scrutinising responses to the pre-validation questionnaire.
The inspectors praise La Mare de Carteret Primary's 'nurturing and caring environment' and note that 'children are proud of the school and the exciting learning that takes place.'
The glowing report highlights the very many strengths of the school, particularly the support provided to all children.
'Teachers and Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) are very supportive of children in all aspects of school life. In classes, there are examples of excellent teaching at all stages of the school, and overall, standards of teaching are high.
'The school has very well considered and highly-effective approaches to identifying, reviewing and evaluating the wide range of children's learning and wellbeing needs. As a result of the school's sector-leading and innovative approaches to seeking and providing strategies and interventions, the needs of children who require additional support are extremely well met.'
The Report highlights the staff's dedication, passion and clear commitment to providing the highest quality care and education for all children. The school's inclusive vision to value every child, every parent/carer, every member of staff and of the school community is clearly reflected in the day-to-day life of the school. The inspectors noted that school leaders were mindful of the health and wellbeing needs of the staff team as well as the children.
Headteacher, Kim Hutchison, has been in post since September 2015, and her leadership and drive was singled out by the inspectors in their report.
'The headteacher demonstrates outstanding leadership and commitment to the school. She has a clear vision for improvement. She works with energy and enthusiasm and has brought the staff team together in a shared endeavour. Together, the staff team are determined to create opportunities for all children to enjoy, learn and succeed and to raise standards further.
'During the inspection, staff talked very positively about their involvement in curricular change. In particular, they highlighted how they enjoyed the flexibility that new approaches to curriculum design offered, and that they felt they could better respond to the needs and interests of the children.'
'I am absolutely delighted with our school inspection,' said Mrs Hutchison.
'For me it has highlighted how my exceptionally caring and committed staff work tirelessly to provide a first class learning experience for all our children. Their professionalism is outstanding.
'The success of this school is down to the dedication of all my staff, the fabulous partnership we have with our parents, carers and the wider community including Investec, the support we receive from Education Services, particularly our Education officer, Lindsey MacDonald and all our support agencies including the Communication and Autism Support Service, Les Voies, ECOF, Sports Commission, Guernsey Music Service and the Schools' Library Service to name but a few.
'The children at La Mare are a joy to teach; they deserve the best, they are the reason we will continue to strive for excellence,' she said.
Deputy Paul Le Pelley, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, congratulated the school for achieving such an exceptional inspection report.
'On behalf of the Committee I would like to say a huge well done to the staff, children and wider community at La Mare de Carteret Primary. Their hard work and commitment has been recognised and acknowledged by the independent inspectors. To achieve one judgement of excellent would be cause for celebration but to achieve four is truly outstanding. It is especially heartening to see how the whole school has worked together and embraced its improvement journey since its last inspection in 2012 to become the sector leading institution that it is,' said Deputy Le Pelley.
Key strengths
- Happy, motivated children who successfully lead their individual learning journeys
- The headteacher's outstanding leadership in managing change and securing improvement
- The leadership team's drive, with the support of all staff, to create a culture of achievement where all feel safe, valued and succeed.
- Excellent self-evaluation approaches which are leading to improved outcomes for learners.
- Very high quality children's learning which has been enriched through greater partnership with parents and the community.
Areas identified for how the school might continue to improve:
- As planned, continue to develop further the curriculum to prepare children well for the future.
The Education Scotland inspection framework includes evaluations against six indicators which are judged against six levels; excellent, very good, good, satisfactory, weak, unsatisfactory.
These are the evaluations for La Mare de Carteret Primary School.
Improvements in performance | Very Good |
Learners' experiences | Excellent |
Teaching for effective learning | Very Good |
Meeting learning needs | Excellent |
Improvement through self-evaluation | Excellent |
Leadership of improvement and change | Excellent |
The full report can be found online at www.gov.gg/schoolinspections
