A PRIMARY school in Whitecross has been rated as excellent and praised for its ‘deeply embedded Christian vision’.

St Barnabas CE Primary School had an inspection from the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) regulators last term and received extremely positive feedback from the visit.

In a similar way to Ofsted, all Church of England schools are visited regularly to evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling all pupils and adults to flourish.

The school was given the highest grade by the inspectors of excellent for their impact of collective worship, the effectiveness of the religious education they deliver and for the overall grading of the school.

In an official report written by the inspectors, it was said: “Through its deeply embedded Christian vision St Barnabas is outstanding, enabling all pupils and adults to flourish.”

“Outstanding pastoral care for all in the school community is inspirational and anchored in the school vision. Staff care deeply for their pupils and their families.”

Leaders and teachers at the setting were also highly praised throughout the report.

“Leaders are creative and highly innovative in sensitively addressing the varied needs for each individual in their diverse community.”

“The head teacher and staff are committed to excellence through their dedication to high quality teaching and learning.”

The report also stated that the school showed a ‘strong sense of community’.

“Excellent collective worship is the heartbeat of the school creating a very strong sense of community.”

Head teacher of St Barnabas, Jane Hodgkinson, spoke of the success of the inspection.

She said: “I am extremely proud of inspection outcome, which is only achieved by a small percentage of schools nationally. It is an honour to work with such a talented and dedicated staff team and the most incredible children, who together, have made this achievement possible.”