Ofsted Reports
Ofsted June 2025
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils are happy at this warm, welcoming environment. The school fosters strong relationships with pupils and their families effectively. The 3 Rs of ‘respect, responsibility and resilience’ are understood by pupils, who show kindness and care to others. Pupils respond well to the school’s expectations and achieve well by the end of Year 6.
The school celebrates and gets to know each pupil as an individual. Pupils learn to debate, sing and perform. Pupils willingly engage in leadership roles.
Pupils are polite and well mannered. They welcome visitors and take pride in their school. Many pupils behave very well in classrooms. At social times, pupils get on well together. The school manages pupils’ behaviour effectively. Pupils are proud to represent their school and community
What does the school do well?
The school is sensibly focused on developing a curriculum that can be implemented successfully to mixed-age classes.
The books pupils read match the sounds that they know precisely. Staff regularly read stories to pupils, bringing characters to life. Reading areas are attractive and engaging.
The school has clear processes for identifying pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
The school helps pupils attend school regularly. The school works effectively with parents and carers to identify the barriers which can prevent their children from coming to school
regularly, and they remove them. This has helped some pupils who find attending school tricky to improve their attendance over time.
Ofsted February 2020
St. Matthew’s is a Good school with many Outstanding features. We are immensely proud to have been awarded an Outstanding grade in Leadership. Inspectors recognised the rapid improvements the school has made . This is testament to the rigour and consistency of the leadership team in their quest to be Outstanding- the skills and knowledge they have imparted and to all the teaching staff and teaching assistants for giving our children the necessary tools to succeed.
Personal development, behaviour and welfare were also acknowledged as Outstanding. Thanks to Mrs Wilson (Previous SENDCo) and her amazing team of learning mentors and all the teaching assistants who do such a huge job in closing gaps in learning in order that ALL children can achieve. Also to Mrs O'Connell and her team in ensuring the health, safety and welfare of our children is paramount.
Our children clearly shine throughout this report: the words impeccable, exemplary, highly responsible, polite , well-mannered and respectful, proud, eager, outstanding, enthusiastic, excellent school ambassadors to name but a few resonate throughout the report. The team of inspectors were full of praise for our children who demonstrated they ‘mix harmoniously’ and have ‘deep respect of different religions and cultures’.
Our Early Years has also been graded Outstanding with such comments as ‘the highly stimulating environment fully engages children, children are highly motivated and engaged in their learning.’ It recognises that parents speak highly of the early year’s provision and are happy with their children’s progress, and that the parental support during the sports carousel was overwhelming.
We are so very proud of everything we have achieved. It is due acknowledgement of everyone in the St. Matthew’s school community: parents and grandparents, governors, office staff, teaching assistants and teachers for their enormous efforts, grit and determination in extremely challenging times.
If you would like a copy of the report in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234 or email [email protected].