Everyone involved with St Francis' Catholic Primary School is celebrating the latest diocesan report on the school.
The Nailsea school was visited by inspectors from the Clifton diocese in March this year and they concluded that it is a first class Catholic school: 'This is a school which knows itself very well, identifies priorities, secures improvement and thrives on challenge in all aspects of its work and mission.'
The report says that the headteacher is 'an outstanding leader who commands confidence in staff, governors and parents alike. Her infectious enthusiasm and commitment act as an inspiration to all. All leaders and managers are excellent role models who strive to ensure that the Catholic nature of the school is clear, consistent and embedded in the mission statement. The teaching staff are talented practitioners who are ably supported by excellent teaching assistants.'
A notably refreshing feature of the school, the inspecting team found, is the openness of all staff to learn from the children and be prepared to be awed and humbled by the spiritual clarity and insight that children often demonstrate.
The report highlights three areas for the school to improve further: devote one full inset day per year to the Catholic life of the school for all staff and governors; provide planned opportunities for pupils to study other faiths in greater depth; and continue to embed systematic assessment and evaluation of RE data to ensure outcomes for pupils are consistently good or excellent.