Primary school continues excellence by maintaining ‘outstanding’ status

Photo: Google, DigitalGlobe

Hopwood Community Primary School, Heywood

A primary school in Heywood has managed to maintain its excellent standard after managing to hold on to its ‘outstanding’ Ofsted status.

Hopwood Community Primary School had not been inspected by the education watchdog since 2008 when it was awarded the outstanding rating. Until November 2020, the school was exempt from routine inspection because it was judged as outstanding at its previous inspection.

Pupils at the school are said to ‘thrive’ and show ‘exemplary behaviour’ that match the standards set by the leadership team, inspectors claimed.

During their visit to the Magdala Street site at the end of January, inspectors Charlotte Oles, Gillian Crimpton and Lisa Finnegan witnessed a passion for books where “literature oozes out of classrooms from Reception to Year 6”. The school scored outstanding in each category set out by Ofsted: quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; leadership and management; and early years provision.

A report published at the end of March read: “The school and governors are unyielding in their pursuit of excellence. This is because they are determined to give all of the pupils at this school, including disadvantaged pupils, the best possible start to their education.

“Accordingly, the school has designed an exceptionally ambitious curriculum which equips pupils with a deep and rich body of knowledge. Teachers benefit from a wealth of training and support.

“The school ensures that teachers know precisely what information to teach, and how it connects to what pupils have learned in the past. This enables them to design highly effective learning.

“Teachers make effective use of a range of resources that promote and enhance pupils’ understanding. They are determined to remove any barriers that may hinder pupils’ learning, including pupils with SEND.”

The report went on to praise the school’s ambitious vision and how they are focussing on creating a secure and high quality environment for pupils in order to further improve attendance records. As a result of this, inspectors found that pupils, including those from a disadvantaged background, are rarely absent.

Hopwood Community Primary School issued a statement on their social media page following the news of the Ofsted success, it read: “We are proud to provide an exceptional education!

“For 116 years Hopwood has stood at the heart of its community and sustaining excellence for the last 16 years is a significant achievement. Congratulations to everyone.”

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter