Praise for 'friendly and welcoming' Yate school

A YATE junior school has been praised for its hard-working pupils, school values and ambition

The Ridge Junior School has been given a 'good' rating in its first Ofsted since the pandemic disrupted education across the country.

The school in Melrose Avenue has 240 pupils aged seven to 11.

It was inspected last November 2022 and the report, published in January, found the school to be 'good' in all areas - the fourth inspection since 2009 when it has been found to be either good or outstanding.

Inspector Ben Jordan said in his report that pupils seem to enjoy attending a “friendly and welcoming” school.

He said: “They understand the importance of following the school’s values of ‘respect, inclusion, drive, growth and empowerment’.

"Pupils know how these values help them be polite, hard-working and understanding of others.

“Leaders are ambitious for what all pupils can achieve."

The inspector said the school prioritised reading and the maths curriculum is "carefully planned and sequenced,” adding: "Teachers explain new concepts clearly. They ensure that pupils have time to consolidate the mathematical knowledge they learn."

He also praised the special educational needs and disabilities provision, saying support for pupils was good they were able to access the full curriculum well.

Staff were well-trained to spot safeguarding risks and there are "effective systems in place to deal with bullying".

The inspector recommended that efforts were made to ensure all subjects were consistently taught, saying improvements needed to be made in subjects including history, to speed progress.

Head teacher Phil Boult, who has been in charge of the school for the last 13 years, said the report was a validation of the hard work of his staff team.

He said: "It was a pleasure to have another really positive experience and outcome.

"The pupils were magnificent and the parental engagement with the Inspector was strong and supportive.

“Looking ahead The Ridge has a number of exciting initiatives to take us into the future so we can continue to provide high quality education for our school community."

Chair of governors Max Reed said: "This outcome was particularly pleasing as key staff had only recently come into post, and is a testament to the quality of leadership and expertise at all levels within the school since the last inspection.

“The governors will be considering along with the school leadership team the suggested areas for development. Action planning is already in hand to address these.”