Guernsey school's culture of kindness praised by Ofsted

The school was graded 'good' across all five categories

A Guernsey school has been praised for "fostering a culture of kindness" by Ofsted inspectors who awarded "good" grades in all categories.

La Houguette Primary School was marked "good" for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes and personal development and welfare, leadership and management and early years provision.

Areas for improvement around learning in some subjects were also identified.

Head teacher Claire Judd said it was "fantastic".

She added: "I want to thank our staff for their continued dedication, our parents for their overwhelming support and our amazing pupils who make us very proud every day.

"We will continue striving to make La Houguette the best it can be."

'Inclusive'

The report, based on an inspection in May, highlighted effective safeguarding in a "safe, caring and inclusive" school.

Pupils said they were proud to attend, while inspectors described them as "well-mannered and thoughtful", with "concern for others" and said "staff foster a culture of kindness".

Leaders had established an "inclusive and positive culture" and pupils with special educational needs or disabilities were "included fully in all aspects of school life", inspectors said.

Staff recognised the head teacher's "determination for everyone to succeed", while parents and carers also gave positive feedback, the report said.

Meanwhile, inspectors also identified areas for improvement.

The report said leaders "prioritise reading", while the maths curriculum was "clearly sequenced" to support pupils to build knowledge over time.

However, it said this was "not always the case" in other subjects.

Inspectors said pupils struggled to recall what they had learned in the past and teachers' use of assessment in some subjects did not inform what pupils should be taught next.

As a result, they said, "gaps in pupil's subject-specific knowledge persist".

Nick Hynes, Director of Education, said: "Achieving good ratings in each of the five categories is very challenging and something the school community should rightly be proud of."

He said he had confidence staff would "continue to improve delivery across the board for the benefit of their learners".

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