Ofsted confirms Friday Bridge Primary is a 'Good' school

Pupils and staff at Friday Bridge Primary School are celebrating today (Wednesday) after Ofsted has rated the school 'Good', recognising its commitment to succeed.

The last time the school was inspected in 2018 it was rated as requiring improvement and chair of the school governors said work on making that happen started back then.

The inspectors described how the pupils at Friday Bridge School “are happy and want to do their best” and that they “respond positively to the high expectations of staff because they know the staff will support and care for them”.

The report, which followed a two-day inspection carried out in April, noted that the school has created a place where “children feel safe”, describing it as a place where “pupils are encouraged to consider their aspirations and to work hard to achieve well”.

Inspectors also highlighted the school’s leaders “have created a well-organised and ambitious curriculum” and that the “well designed” curriculum introduces the children to “ambitious vocabulary and topics”.

The letter also states that “children in the early years get off to a strong start” and that the staff are “well trained, confident and skilful”.

The inspectors praised the school for “leaders developing a love of reading”. That children in reception “begin to read right from the start”. The school “ensures that pupils use their knowledge to become accurate and fluent readers” and that “less confident readers receive extra help so that they can catch up”.

The most important priority is to keep children safe and the inspection team found that Friday Bridge Primary School “takes safeguarding very seriously” and that “the leaders make sure that staff and governors receive regular and high-quality training”.

Friday Bridge Primary is a place where “staff have created a safe place for children to learn”.

Michael Elliott, headteacher, said: “We all think very highly of Friday Bridge School. We are all ‘in it together’ to create the very best

learning for each child in our school community and I think this is a huge reflection on the hard work that everyone, staff, community and of course pupils all put in to make Friday Bridge such a lovely school. I would like to thank the parents specifically, who have supported school in all we have been aiming to achieve. The inspectors noted; ‘Parents are positive about how well adults know their children’.

This is echoed in the report where it states that “positive relationships are at the heart of behaviour management”. “Staff have high expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour” and more importantly “pupils trust staff and know that staff will help them if they have any worries or concerns”.

Leonard Veenendaal, chair of governors, said: “On behalf of all the governors I would like to thank all the staff and pupils at Friday Bridge for the part they played during the Ofsted inspection. The work towards this outcome started back in 2018 and on behalf of the school I wish to acknowledge and sincerely thank our previous headteacher Ms Sophie Foston for her substantial contribution to this outcome. The inspectors acknowledge in their report what we see every day - that Friday Bridge is a good school - We are so pleased to see this formally recognised.”