Hermitage Primary School marks double success

Good Ofsted rating follows sporting award

HERMITAGE Primary School is celebrating a double success following a good Ofsted report and a special sports award.

The school retained its good rating from 2016, with inspectors saying that pupils greatly enjoyed their education.

The school is also the first in the district to receive a School Games Mark Platinum Award.

The award from the government-led scheme is presented to schools who have maintained consistently high standards with their sport provision.

Indeed, Hermitage’s Ofsted report highlighted that: “Pupils are especially proud of their sporting prowess and were delighted that the school has recently gained an award for its sports provision.

“Keeping fit, safe and healthy is at the top of pupils’ list of priorities.”

Deputy headteacher Lucy Cowan said everyone was very proud of the achievement and being the first school in West Berkshire to recieve it.

She said: “Hermitage Primary School has shown great engagement of all pupils in a variety of activities, including completing the Daily Mile, whatever the weather, participation in house-based competitions within school including rugby, basketball, football, cricket and athletics and participation in a huge amount of competitions against other schools and representing West Berkshire at the County Games finals.

“We have promoted the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to all pupils and hope this continues with the pupils once they have left the school.”

Ofsted said that the school curriculum had served pupils well and they were enjoying their learning, especially the emphasis placed on outdoor experience.

“Pupils remembered key concepts from previous learning in a range of subjects and retained what was important.

“As pupils move through their schooling they are well prepared for challenges that lie ahead,” the report said.

Inspectors said that the school’s special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) put in a strong performance to ensure that pupils were fully included and achieved.

Headteacher Gill Turner was said to be “very understanding about the pressures that the profession can bring” and that school leaders adopted a hands-on approach to overseeing staff workload.

Adaptations had also been made to ensure that teachers were not overloaded with bureaucratic tasks.

Mrs Turner said: “I am immensely proud of this outcome and it is a testament to the commitment and hard work we have put into developing a curriculum that offers many opportunities for our children.

“This report validates all we have been working towards.

“I am very proud of our children and how they told our inspector about how excited they are about learning and how much they enjoy learning.

“Teaching is a hard job – but to know that they are enjoying their learning and happy, makes it all worthwhile.”

Inspectors noted that Key Stage 2 pupils had “a limited experience of reading challenging texts” and that their “fascination with the world of literature is underdeveloped”.

To improve the school’s Ofsted grade, inspectors said leaders needed to ensure that pupils enjoyed a wide range of high-quality literature to strengthen pupils’ enthusiasm for books.

Leaders were also asked to review the humanities curriculum to place a greater emphasis on subject-specific knowledge pupils needed to acquire.