'Extraordinary turnaround' in performance of St Michael's School in Camden Town
By JENNIFER LIPMAN
A PRIMARY school has enjoyed an “extraordinary turnaround” after jumping from a poor set of inspection scores four years to a top Ofsted report.
Staff at St Michael’s Church of England School in Camden Street praised headteacher Lynn Trigg for the improvements as inspectors delivered their glowing findings this week. She was described by Ofstead as 'outstanding'.
The school as a whole was placed in the 'good' bracket, up from the last inspection in 2006 when the school was rated in areas as only 'satisfactory' and in some fields as 'below average'.
Inspectors, who visited the mixed school in December, said in their report that the school provides a “good quality of education within a welcoming, safe and caring atmosphere”.
The school was found to be outstanding in several areas including pupil's 'spiritual, moral, social and cultural development' and provisions for children with special needs.
St Michael's, a church school with 60 per cent Muslim pupils, was also commended for its focus on community cohesion.
Inspectors found pupils had “deep respect for people who come from a background different to their own”.
“ Often church schools get a bad press but we do a lot to make sure the children are aware of the world outside,” said deputy head Felicity Djerehe.
Although inspectors said there was room for improvement, particularly with reading standards among younger pupils, Mrs Djerehe was happy with the report.
“Our school motto is 'life in all its fullness' and I think that's what we give the children,” she said “They are very happy and the report recognises that. They have positive attitudes to learning and are making good progress regardless of their experiences and background.”
She attributed the success to Mrs Trigg, who moved from Parochial School in 2006.
Obviously there has been a lot of hard work from everybody, including the governors and the staff,” she said. “Mrs Trigg's leadership has been an inspiration. She has really executed her vision for where the school should be going.
The comments were echoed by Fr Philip North, the Chairman of Governors and the new parish priest of St Michaels, who said the headteacher had changed the school's ethos.
She has a very strong vision of what she is trying to achieve. Four years ago the standards were through the floor and there were all sorts of issues about engagement and pupil behaviour,” he said.
“Now there is a young staff who are driven and committed to Camden Town and its children and they are very inspired by her leadership. have been improvements in the standards and quality of teaching and the SATs results have gone up hugely. It's been an extraordinary turnaround.”