The head of a Rickmansworth primary school has said she is “very proud” of its latest Ofsted report.
Arnett Hills Junior Mixed Infant School retained its status as a ‘good’ school when the education watchdog published its verdict earlier this month.
While this was an ungraded report, inspectors said the Berry Lane school has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection”.
Headteacher Holly Butcher said: “The report is testimony to the dedicated staff team, the wonderful pupils and our whole school community. We have worked hard and are very pleased that this hard work was recognised by Ofsted, and that the report warmly encapsulates everything that makes Arnett Hills a very special school.”
She added: “We have also just received excellent SAT results with 94 per cent of children reaching the expected standard in reading – a skill that we hold at the core of all we do.”
(Image: Holly Butcher) Inspectors wrote that “the sense of community” at the school is “palpable”, praising the “ethos of kindness” shown by pupils.
The report says: “Pupils live and breathe the school’s values of integrity, community and empathy. Behaviour is excellent. Pupils take considerable pride in their learning. They are confident and friendly and greet people with a smile.”
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Praise was also given to the high expectations staff have for what children can achieve, as well as the “highly effective” support given to pupils with special educational needs (SEND).
Further praise was heaped on the “ambitious” curriculum, which inspectors say does a good job of identifying what pupils should learn and when.
(Image: Holly Butcher) Reading is described as being “at the heart” of this curriculum, with the report saying: “The school chooses texts carefully to ensure these underpin learning across the curriculum. Pupils develop the knowledge and skills they need to understand complex texts.”
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Arnett Hills JMI caters for male and female children aged between four and 11 and currently has 210 pupils on its roll. The school was last inspected in January 2020 and was rated ‘good’.
The report also highlighted some areas for improvement, noting that “teachers check pupils are learning but, on occasion, they do not identify the misconceptions some pupils have”.
This, they say, leaves gaps in some pupil’s learning.
The school’s safeguarding policies were found to be “effective”.
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