High praise for church school

Yattendon Primary awarded top marks by inspectors

YATTENDON Primary School has passed an inspection of church schools with the highest grade.

In its report, the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) judged the school an ‘excellent’ establishment.

The CofE school is only the third in the Oxford Diocese to be awarded this honour.

SIAMS praised the school’s vision, which “enables everyone within the school community to be nourished, to grow and flourish”.

It noted “excellent behaviour” on the part of pupils.

The conferring of the ‘excellent’ grade relates not only to academic achievement, but to a church school’s mission, its engagement with the community at large and the sense of belonging it fosters in children.

It also accounts for the school’s environmental ethos.

Headteacher Rachel Manley welcomed the report, saying: “Since the changes to the SIAMS system came into place, it is far more challenging for schools to achieve this highest grade.

“Our wonderful ethos and environment is thanks to the energy, skills and commitment of our whole school community, including staff, parents, children, governors, the church and the Yattendon Estate.

“It is a huge team effort and we feel so fortunate to be part of such a supportive and caring ‘family’.”

The chairwoman of governors Rachel Jones thanked “hard-working” staff and parents for helping make the accolade possible.

She said: “We pride ourselves on being a small school with a big vision and we are delighted to have this rubber-stamped.”