A St Leonards Primary School has been rated as 'Excellent'

The school, at Woodland Vale Road, St Leonards, was given an overall grade of Excellent in a Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAM) report.

In a similar way to Ofsted, Church of England schools are visited regularly to evaluate the key question: How effective is the school's distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling all pupils and adults to flourish?

A summary from inspectors concluded: “This school rejoices in its diversity. Adults and pupils celebrate each other’s differences in an unforced expression of their vision to learn to live together. The school is held together by a web of trusting relationships. All flourish in an atmosphere of love.”

They also noted “A strong instinct of generosity runs through the school. All are tireless in their determination to meet each other’s needs so that all can flourish.”

Head teachers Russell Thorne and Susi Singh welcomed the findings of the report and said: “We received an overall grade of Excellent, and were also judged to be Excellent in the impact of Collective Worship and the effectiveness of our Religious Education. Under this framework, it is challenging for schools to achieve this highest grade in all areas.“Our caring ethos and environment is thanks to the dedication, skills and commitment of our whole school community – staff, parents, children, governors, the church, and members of our local community. We feel so lucky to be part of such a supportive and caring ‘family’.

“A large amount of work goes on to build upon our strong foundations to ensure that children receive the best education and wider opportunities, and flourish in line with our school vision of ‘Learning to Live Together, Together Living to Learn’.”“As part of the inspection, the inspector looked in detail at seven strands, including the school vision and leadership, the progress of pupils, especially in RE, our relationship with the community, opportunities for all members of the school community to explore their spirituality, and our impact as global citizens.”