As a member of the governing body of Blackhall Colliery Primary I take great pride in following and influencing the development and progress of our school, staff and children so I am particularly proud to note that the recent OFSTED inspection report has formally ranked our school as "Good".
Blackhall Primary school was visited by OFSTED inspectors during the week before Christmas (18-19 December 2012) and the school report was published earlier this week. In their report the OFSTED inspectors have recognised the huge effort put into the day-to-day running of the school by staff and pupils which has led to an improved rating of "Good" (from "Satisfactory" in the previous inspection in 2010).
For my part the highlight of the inspection summary is the acknowledgement of the behaviour of our pupils which was ranked as "Outstanding". The report goes on to say that "pupils behaviour is outstanding; they feel exceptionally safe as a result of extremely friendly and respectful relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils are always polite and determined to do well in their work".
Whilst everyone associated with the school ought to feel very proud of their contribution to the outcome of this report, and perhaps allow themselves a moment of self-congratulation, we must not allow the grass to grow under our feet. As well as celebrating the nice bits in the report, we must also recognise the most important bit which tells us what we need to do to improve further - and then put those recommendations into practice. Only this way can we push ourselves harder to attain the next level of improvement.
However, for now, I would like to extend my personal thanks to all of our staff and pupils whose contribution to the inspection process led to this glowing report. Special thanks must also go to Joanna Clark, Headteacher and Denise Wilkinson, Deputy Headteacher for their leadership and relentless focus on school improvement during the period leading up to this current inspection report. I know that they are both extremely proud of the staff and pupils at our school.