FANTASTIC NEWS: WILLIAM BOOTH PRIMARY AND NURSERY SCHOOL IS A GOOD SCHOOL!

I was really delighted to hear, from colleagues at William Booth Primary School in Nottingham where I was part of the IEB, that OFSTED have finally decided that this is a good school! It is a fantastic achievement for the whole team who have worked so incredibly hard to change almost every aspect of their practice and provision and to release the magic in some wonderful young people. 

It was great to read such a positive OFSTED inspection report.

The senior team, Gary Fullwood, Claire Wilkinson, Tammy Swift and Claire Goodfellow, have done something quite extraordinary because William Booth Primary School had been in Special Measures following a very critical OFSTED Inspection in December 2010. Over the last four years the school has also been going through the transition from being a two form entry infant and nursery school to become a one form entry primary school. Some huge challenges were therefore facing the school. How could they build on the work in the early years. How could they develop literacy to ensure that every child was a listener, communicator, reader and writer. How could they develop numeracy to ensure that every child was a counter, can calculate and is confident with numbers. Critically they also needed to focus on discipline, behaviour and building character to prepare young people for secondary education and life!

This is now a great school where a young enthusiastic and committed team are doing a fantastic job and the senior team have built a strong performance management and coaching culture where everyone has access to training and personal development. They have worked with some great colleagues in Nottingham to improve and continuously develop their practice drawing on assessment for learning and the intelligent use of data to ensure that every child is provided with the curriculum and the opportunities to reach their potential.