Messing Primary School, one of the first schools in the country to be sponsored by an Independent School, has been judged good by Ofsted in its first inspection since becoming an Academy.
Inspectors praised the school’s ‘extremely rapid improvements over the past two years in all aspects of its work’ and said the leadership and management of the school is ‘outstanding.’ The report also praised the partnership with New Hall School and change to academy status, which it said had delivered ‘outstanding’ benefits for the school.
Leaders were complimented for focusing successfully on improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. Inspectors said achievement at the school was good because pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics from their different starting points.
The two-day inspection found the school provides a very caring and safe environment for pupils and is strongly focused on their individual needs. Inspectors praised the leadership of teaching as outstanding and said Governance is exemplary and provides the school with outstanding levels of support and challenge.
The small village school, near Tiptree, Colchester was judged good in all areas, including behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching, achievement of pupils and early years provision. Pupil numbers have doubled since the school became an Academy in partnership with New Hall School.
The report said pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent and they are well-prepared for life in modern Britain.
Jackie Halliday, Headteacher, said: “We are delighted that the hard work and dedication of the whole school community has been recognised. At Messing Primary School we offer personalised learning which focuses on the individual needs of all pupils, including the more able. We are very pleased that the positive impact of this approach on pupil progress and attitudes to learning has been identified in the report. We are very proud of our pupils and they are proud of their school; as one pupil told the inspector: ‘’We love it.”
Katharine Evans, Chair of Governors said: “The school has focused hard on driving up standards so that each pupil can achieve their true potential. This report highlights the progress made by the school and the support it receives from parents, the local community and New Hall School.”
Katherine Jeffrey, Chair of the New Hall Multi Academy Trust and New Hall’s Principal, said: ‘We are delighted with this confirmation of the high quality of education and the outstanding leadership and management at Messing Primary School. New Hall and Messing are great partners and we have demonstrated how well independent schools and academies can working together in a joint Trust arrangement, for the benefit of all the children.’