Following its official ranking in the league tables that placed St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Brewood as one of the top two primary schools in Staffordshire, it has received a glowing report from Ofsted after a recent one-day inspection.

The report recommends that the school’s next inspection should be a full ‘Section 5' inspection, indicating that there is evidence to suggest that the school may have improved from ‘Good’ to ‘Outstanding’.

The report highlights the high level of academic achievement by pupils, as well as exceptional behaviour.

It also mentions the family ethos of the school and the excellent skills of the teaching staff:

“St Mary’s is a happy, friendly school where all pupils feel safe and welcome. Parents and carers say that school is like a family and their children love coming to school. This is reflected in pupils’ positive attitudes to learning. Pupils engage in lively, intelligent discussions about their work. Teachers skilfully address the needs of all pupils in mixed-age classes. This is a strength of the school.”

St Mary’s Executive Headteacher, Bernadette Corbett, said: “This is a wonderful outcome for St Mary’s and recognises the ongoing commitment of all staff, parents, governors, directors and children. It just goes to show what working together can achieve.

"I am very proud and intend to build on this success to ensure that St Mary’s goes from strength to strength.”

St Mary’s became part of The Painsley Catholic Academy in September last year.

Steve Bell, Chief Executive Officer of the multi academy, said: “This is great news. I am very pleased with the high levels of academic achievement at St Mary’s, but even more so with the fact that the children ‘love coming to school’. There is no better accolade than that. I would like to congratulate all involved.”

Picture caption: Students celebrating success with Lisa Boland, Head of School (left) and Bernadette Corbett, Executive Headteacher (right)