Mansfield Woodhouse primary and nursery school celebrates successful Ofsted report

St Edmund’s CE Primary and Nursery School was the first in Nottinghamshire to undergo a full inspection since the start of the pandemic.

The Church Hill Avenue establishment was visited by staff from Ofsted – the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills – which inspects education providers, who said it remains a ‘good’ school.

Among key statements in the newly published report, following the summer visit, the school was described as ‘happy and harmonious’ with ‘highly positive’ pupils who described their teachers as ‘the best of the best’.

Safety was ‘paramount’ and teachers were ‘ambitious’ that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities accessed the same curriculum as other pupils.

It also highlighted parental praise, reporting one saying: “It’s more like a family than a school.”

Well-behaved pupils and the absence of bullies was also noted.

The report pointed to potential improvements, including ‘resuming strategic planning and monitoring activities to identify and address priorities for future school improvement’ and to develop a ‘consistent approach to assessment in foundation subjects to ensure teachers have a clear understanding of what pupils know and remember, and to identify gaps in their learning’.

Nadeem Shah, who has been headteacher at the school since January 2015, said: “It was a surprise to get the call the day before the inspection – no other school in the county had received a full Ofsted inspection since March 2020.”

“We were really keen to show the inspection team what our school was about. We are delighted they saw the real St Edmund’s throughout their inspection. They were hugely positive during the inspection and report.

“The opening sentence reads ‘this is a happy and harmonious school’, a genuine reflection of our setting. Many features go into making a successful school, but children being happy is an exceptionally important element.

“Our staff team and community truly are superb, we have a brilliant and committed team. This is a well-deserved recognition of their excellent efforts.”

The inspection team also praised the wider curriculum – music, sport and the performing arts, as well as after-school clubs and activities.

Mr Shah said: “We are very proud of our broad and balanced curriculum.

“All of our children take part in an enormous range of sporting opportunities, every year group regularly takes part in performances and all children from year three upwards learn a musical instrument. In fact, our school has just been awarded as a Music Mark School too.”

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