STAFF and pupils at a Wiltshire primary school are celebrating after being given a top grade by inspectors.

The Minster CE Primary School in Warminster was awarded an overall grade of ‘Excellent’ grade after being inspected under the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools.

In addition to this, the school - which has 210 pupils - was also awarded the grade of ‘Excellent’ for the impact of collective worship.

The SIAMS inspector, David Hatrey, highlighted many strengths including the 'passionate and relentless enthusiasm' school leaders demonstrate to identify high-quality innovative practices to enable pupils to flourish.  

Headteacher, Lisa Tudor, said: "I am incredibly proud of this inspection outcome.  I was particularly pleased to read Mr Hatrey’s comment about the transformational impact our school vision has on pupils’ aspirations and expectations.  

“He witnessed the culture of looking after each other in love and reported that everyone treats one another with an exceptional degree of respect and dignity.

“At The Minster, we prioritise children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health, and this was seen as a strength of our school.”

Miss Tudor has become interim headteacher for a number of Church schools in difficult times. 

Through collaborative and transformative work, she helps leaders in other schools to enhance the impact of their own vision, so pupils flourish and school leaders offer invaluable support to other schools in sharing excellent practice.  

The key findings from the report stated:

• Leaders are passionate and relentless in their enthusiasm to identify high quality innovative practices to enable pupils to flourish.  They offer invaluable support to other schools sharing excellent practice. ‘Monitoring and evaluation’ is a particular strength, involving governors and pupils to drive improvements.

• The vision is deeply embedded in daily life, creatively woven through learning experiences and having a transformational impact on pupils’ aspirations and expectations.  Whilst pupils plan and lead collective worship, their contribution to termly planning is less well developed. • The vision shapes the culture of looking after each other in love.  Everyone treats one another with an exceptional degree of respect and dignity because they are special to God.  Pupils live out the vision by walking alongside others, helping them to flourish.

• High quality interventions make a significant difference for pupils.  This enables pupils to flourish, raising their self-esteem.  The provision for pupils’ emotional wellbeing and mental health are prioritised.

• New initiatives, such as the oracy project has enabled pupils to discuss big questions of meaning and purpose in religious education (RE).  This enables pupils to work at greater depth. It deepens their understanding of religious vocabulary, whilst perceiving how RE has a real relevance to their lives and thinking

The inspector praised the work of the school in projects such as oracy, as this enables children to discuss big questions of meaning and purpose in religious education (RE) and work at greater depth.  

He reported that a range of opportunities allows pupils to flourish in different areas. Outstanding provision enables large numbers of pupils to play musical instruments and a vibrant choir frequently contribute to the Minster Church celebrations.

The curriculum enables pupils to extend their understanding of deprivation and disadvantage and pupils are confident to challenge the injustice of stereotypes through creatively planned experiences.