I am delighted and extremely proud to announce that following a graded inspection by the education watchdog Ofsted, last term, our school has been judged to be ‘outstanding’ in all areas. This is a testimony to the hard work of the whole St Peter’s team and an unrelenting approach to developing a broad and engaging curriculum that is underpinned by our vision and culture of excellence. All stakeholders have worked tirelessly to ensure that we bring this vision to life and enable every pupil to flourish and give their best. I would like to thank our staff, governors, families, the LSP and, above all, the children for truly shining as exceptional St Peter’s citizens and being so integral in the creation and sustaining of such a special school community. 

Please do take time to read the report as it summarises many of the strengths that were seen during the visit by the inspection team. At the very beginning of the report, inspectors have noted that ‘Pupils thrive at this highly inclusive and welcoming school. They fully understand what it means to be a ‘St Peter’s Citizen’. Pupils say that this helps them feel part of a community where everyone gives their best and sets a positive example to others.’ I am delighted that the children were able to express this to the inspectors and that the team were able to see for themselves the happy, caring and encouraging ethos that permeates our school life each day.

You will see, in our report that inspectors make reference to ‘polite and well-mannered’ pupils. Feedback during the visit elaborated on this with high praise for the way in which children welcomed visitors in a friendly and genuine manner. Pupils were questioned on many areas of school life and spoke with enthusiasm and honesty, clearly expressing their thoughts and opinions with confidence. We are always proud of the children at St Peter’s, and it is wonderful that they have received this well-deserved recognition, and praise, from His Majesty’s Inspectors.

During the visit, many areas of our curriculum came under intense scrutiny by our large inspection team, and we were pleased that the team noted how ‘Pupils learn exceptionally well across the curriculum.’ Although the short report is not able to capture all that was seen, and shared, during the visit there is a huge amount more to celebrate. Many areas of our curriculum were explored, including reading, maths, PE, art, history, science and Latin and a common thread in the feedback highlighted the quality of the carefully planned curriculum and the ambition for each child to enjoy learning and be successful.

We are really pleased that Ofsted recognised the impact of our work on personal development as this has been a key priority for us over the last academic year. They commented that ‘Leaders provide pupils with wide-ranging and exciting opportunities to develop personally…’ and also noted the wide range of clubs on offer, as well as the opportunities for children to take on different responsibilities and flourish as confident individuals. You will know that our work on what is means to be a ‘St Peter’s Citizen’ has also been a key focus for us and this really shone through during the visit.

I am incredibly proud of our staff team here at St Peter’s whose continued hard work, commitment and expertise has such a huge impact on the children. The visitors saw extremely high quality teaching and learning during their time in school and noted the ‘strong subject knowledge’ and how staff ‘skilfully develop pupils’ understanding’. It was also wonderful that the inspectors observed that ‘Relationships between staff are warm and respectful’ and that ‘Staff, including those who are new to teaching, are proud to work at the school and value its team spirit.’

Finally, I must extend a huge thank you to you – our parent community – for your feedback, through the survey, and conversations with inspectors over the 2 days. We felt so incredibly well-supported and, although the report does not detail some of the wonderful comments and feedback you shared, much of this was reported back to us by the lead inspector during our final feedback session. Thank you for your ongoing support. Our partnership with you is of huge importance to us as we seek to create the very best school community for everyone involved.