Download the ISI Report

Please click on the link above to download the recently published report following the visit by five ISI inspectors on 4^th and 5^th May.

We are delighted with its contents and feel the overall conclusions are a fair reflection of St. Mary’s: it acknowledges our many and considerable strengths whilst providing helpful advice as to how we can improve further.

“The school successfully meets its aim of pursuing excellence within an ethos of striving to be the best, through the provision of a broad and demanding curriculum.”

“The overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage is outstanding”

Quite rightly, inspectors acknowledged that so many aspects of St. Mary’s are excellent (outstanding):

Strengths of the Early Years (judged as excellent/outstanding)

Strengths of the Mount and Senior School (judged as excellent/outstanding)

The following were also judged as good:

• Quality of teaching (good or excellent)
• Pupils’ progress and achievements (some excellent)  
• Leadership and management (some outstanding)  
• Premises and accommodation 

The terms satisfactory or unsatisfactory/inadequate do not appear in the report. 

Towards excellence 

Although pleased with the report overall, we are now looking to build upon the progress made in recent years towards strengthening our performance further in a number of areas. Parents and pupils have kindly assisted us during the last two years by completing questionnaires on a range of issues; these have contributed to the development of the College Improvement Plan. Thank you for your invaluable contribution to the process.

The inspectors noted that we have already been working hard to improve in a number of areas:

• The College Improvement Plan already seeks to address all areas mentioned in the report. The Plan will be amended and we will provide you with an executive summary of it by the start of next term showing how any issues for action will be addressed;
• Curriculum policies and lesson planning to challenge all abilities. The College already has strong practice in nearly all subjects and we will use this as a template for sharing the best ideas and strategies across all disciplines, thereby promoting continuity year on year;
• A review of assessment/marking has already been in progress this year. A new Information Management System (including tracking and reporting) has been purchased and is being installed ready for September. It will provide for more comprehensive tracking of progress and for a new format of reports with targets/advice for pupils on how to improve in the future;
• Professional development of staff in the Early Years, Mount and Senior School will continue to be a priority towards improving their quality of performance and sense of progression and advancement. This will serve to enhance the education and care we provide to all of our pupils from babies to university entrance level.

Final remarks

Amongst all the educational terminology, the inspectors’ observations which have pleased us the most are in relation to: successfully meeting our aim of pursuing excellence within an ethos of striving for the best; spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; pupil behaviour; the Catholic ethos of the College; the College as a caring community with ‘wonderful pupils’. Overall, the sense is gained of a community that does extremely well yet is eager to ‘move forward’ in the pursuit of further improvement. Staff have worked hard and showed great professionalism; many of the excellent/outstanding aspects would also not have been possible without your crucial contribution and support as caring parents: thank you.

A summary sheet of judgements and action points can be found below.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Yours sincerely,

M.A. Kennedy                                                                                          
Principal      

M. Collins
Headmaster, The Mount      

A.M. Haigh    
Head of Early Years                                                           

ISI Inspection: Summary of Findings

The inspection is reported under five main headings and within these there are numerous sub-headings.

Each is given one of four judgements: excellent/outstanding; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory/inadequate.

(ISI use the term excellent whereas OFSTED use outstanding)

Action Points

• Continue to develop the use of tracking of pupils’ progress and monitor it more closely in order to strengthen pupils’ future achievements.
• Review the format of written reports to incorporate more structured and informative guidance for pupils.
• In the EYFS, continue to support the outstanding provision and further enhance opportunities for  in-house staff training.