St Matthews' celebrate 'tremendous' Ofsted rating turnaround

St Matthew’s C of E Primary school in Chadderton

Staff, governors and parents at St Matthew’s C of E Primary in Chadderton are celebrating after the school’s quite remarkable turnaround in Ofsted fortunes during the past three years.

The staff at the school, based on Chadderton Hall Road, have been on a self-proclaimed ‘tremendous journey’ over the past three years following the Ofsted inspectors’ ‘Inadequate’ judgement in January, 2016.

After that outcome, St Matthew’s was also placed into Special Measures.

Early, 2016, must seem like a lifetime ago, however, as Ofsted this week adjudged St Matthew’s as ‘good’ in five inspections – ‘Overall effectiveness’, ‘Effectiveness of leadership and management’, ‘Quality of teaching, learning and assessment’, ‘Outcomes for pupils’ and ‘Early years provision’ – and ‘outstanding’ in the other, ‘Personal development, behaviour and welfare’.

The Ofsted report, produced following inspections on October 9 and 10 this year, really does mark an eye-catching turnaround, so it’s little wonder headteacher Martin Moore is a proud man.

He told the Chronicle: “We are delighted the report celebrates the strengths of our school, in particular the outstanding work we do to promote children's personal development and welfare.

“We believe passionately in the development of the whole child and this was fully recognised by the inspection team.

“I would like to give my personal thanks to our dedicated and exceptionally hard-working teachers / support staff, who have worked tirelessly to get the school where it is today, and also to our parents and governors for their continued support and involvement.

“We are exceptionally proud of our progress since January 2016, and we look forward to continue building on this in the future.”

Meanwhile, former St Matthew's pupil Professor Brian Cox caused a stir when he went back to his old school earlier this week.

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