St Edmund's Primary School in Hoxne praised in Ofsted report

A village primary school has been praised for its standard of teaching following its first Ofsted inspection since becoming an academy in 2016.

St Edmund’s Primary School in Hoxne, part of the Consortium Multi Academy Trust, was rated as good by inspector Daniel Gee.

Pupils in almost all year groups were found to make good overall progress, while teachers were praised for delivering learning that motivates and interests pupils.

Academy head Susie Collins said: “It is really good that the hard work of the staff has been recognised, because teaching is not a nine-to-five job; it’s a job that you take home with you.

“We have a very good team and it’s not just class teachers – it’s everybody that works as part of the team.”

In his report, Mr Gee stated that the school’s curriculum, as well as the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, were a strength of St Edmund’s.

“We were proud of reading that the children like coming to school and that they feel safe,” said Ms Collins.

“Sometimes, you can read a report and it doesn’t sound like the school, but I think everything is captured in that report and we are very proud.”

The trust was established in July 2016, with three founding schools converting to academy status on August 1.

The schools were Glebeland Primary, St Edmund’s Primary and Mendham Primary.

“Since becoming part of the trust, I believe we’ve received more support than we did when we were a local authority controlled school,” said Ms Collins.

“Our school offers a very good education and it’s a very good family ethos environment.”

To improve further, Mr Gee recommended that the school give greater thought to learning activities that provide pupils with high levels of challenge.