Banbury primary school celebrates going from special measures to 'outstanding' in every area

Staff, pupils and parents from William Morris Primary School celebrated the 'huge achievement' with cupcakes and balloons at the end of term today (Friday, October 19).

To add to the joy, the school recorded its best SATS results in more than seven years in 2018, beating the national pupil average for reaching the ‘expected standard’ in reading, writing and maths.

Executive head teacher Julie Hiddleston said: “We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last two years to raise standards, and we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved here.

"So to receive external recognition like this – and not just a good report, but the very highest one we could possibly get - is a huge achievement for everyone involved with the school.

“Our school has the most committed, talented and incredible group of leaders, teachers and support staff – I feel privileged every day working with them and our amazing children."

Multi academy trust GLF Schools took over the running of the Bretch Hill school in April, 2016, after being put in special measures by Ofsted 12 months earlier.

But following inspections in September, the school is now rated as 'outstanding' in all five categories, with praise for 'driving the development of the school with grit and determination' in the report.

The 'rapid and highly effective transformation' since Miss Hiddleston and her leadership team took over was also apparent to the inspectors, whose report was published yesterday.

Tribute was paid to the staff’s 'huge ambition for pupils', and the 'excellent' behaviour and personal development of children.

To celebrate, parents were invited to the school early to have special cupcakes and see the pupils' work, having completed their first term as a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) academy.

Parent Rebecca Payne, who has three children at the school, said the transformation was much-needed but the staff deserve the praise after a 'rollercoaster' few years.

"The leadership team are really amazing they put in so much hard work, it's a lovely school and community and it's so lovely to see the teachers and staff feeling so proud to be here now," she said.

Deb Green has been at the school for 13 years with roles from cleaner to behaviour support and was full of praise for Miss Hiddleston and her team.

"We've been through some tough times and then in came Julia and GLF and all of a sudden the transformation has been brilliant, going from special measures to outstanding," she said.

HR director at GLF Schools, Maria Cicero-Scott, said she was so pleased to see the school thriving and believes strong leadership is behind the success.

"From our perspective, the team has worked so hard to do everything for the children and it's so lovely to see them so happy," she said.