A Government Inspector has heaped praise on the children, staff and governors of St Mary’s RC Primary School in Grangetown, dubbing it ‘an outstanding school where children thrive.’

The OFSTED report said: ‘Under the headteacher’s excellent leadership, all staff foster the school’s Christian ethos and a clear philosophy that, here, every child matters and will be helped to develop and learn as well as they can.’

Headteacher Sue Lemmon is thrilled with the verdict. She said: ‘The whole school community is over the moon with this well-deserved report. Staff, governors, children and parents work in partnership to ensure that the standards of personal and academic development are excellent.’

The report enthuses: ‘This is an exceptionally inclusive school in which children’s accomplishments reflect outstanding achievement and personal development. Parents have total confidence in the school and hold the care and education it provides in exceptionally high regard.’

The inspection also tracked the children’s ‘outstanding’ progress. It said: ‘From very low starting points, children make outstanding progress in most areas of learning. A new and very effective approach helps them make remarkable progress in their communication and development. The headteacher and her senior team are very successful in promoting pupils’ achievements and development through good and often excellent teaching, along with an exceptionally well-managed rich curriculum and outstanding care, guidance and support. Pupils are exceptionally well behaved and act safely and sensibly. They rapidly grow in confidence and are ready to move on to secondary education where their good basic skills stand them in good stead.’

The report added: ‘Governors play a very effective role in ensuring the school is outstandingly managed and administered. The school provides outstanding value for money and has an outstanding capacity for improvement.