STAFF and pupils at St George’s Church of England Primary School in Semington are celebrating a massive turn-around in standards.

The latest Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools report has graded the school ‘Good’ for the effectiveness of its distinctive Christian vision and the impact of collective worship.

The last SIAMS inspection for St George’s five years ago only ranked the school as ‘Satisfactory’.

Head teacher Jackie Chalk said: “We are rightly very proud of the work the school has done to make these improvements to the school.”

She added: “At the last Ofsted inspection in April 2017, the school was placed in special measures.

“Since then, St George’s has put in place a new leadership team, governing body, class and staff structure since September 2017.”

The school joined The White Horse Federation Multi-Academy Trust in 2018.

It now has 97 pupils, most from a white British heritage, with very few speaking English as a second language.

The proportion of pupils who are considered to be disadvantaged is in line with national averages. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above national average.

The SIAMS report found “the carefully considered Christian vision and its associated values have driven the work of the school and have been highly effective in bringing about much-needed change.”

The inspector, Marcia Headon, added: “The vicar and the local church provide strong support to the school and play an important role in its life. They have had a significant impact upon the development of collective worship.”

But she says the school does not take advantage of opportunities to allow pupils to experience ‘awe and wonder’ and to develop their spiritual language.

Areas for development include refining the narrative which underpins the school vision in order to reflect the next stage of the school’s strategic journey of improvement.

The school should enable pupils to develop a deeper understanding of faiths other than Christianity to better prepare them for living in a multi-faith society and staff should ensure that more opportunities are taken to enable the pupils’ sense of spirituality to grow.