St James the Great Primary and Nursery School, Thornton Heath, was judged outstanding in all aspects in a recent Ofsted inspection placing the school in the top seven per cent of primary schools in England and Wales.

Lead Inspector, Mandy Snook, and her team observed 32 lessons and met with pupils, governors, staff and parents.

Pupils were described as being polite and having very good manners. They were commended for exemplary behaviour, quantity of work done every term, their enthusiasm for learning and choosing to do demanding work creating a “buzz” of learning in lessons.

Long serving headteacher, Stephen Beck, has seen the school through four previous inspections in which the school has consistently been recognised as an extremely good school with outstanding features.

He said he was pleased that the work of the whole school community in moving the school forward had brought results and been formally recognised. It is to the credit of staff, parents, pupils and governors that such great provision has been established in Thornton Heath for the local parish communities of St Andrew’s, Thornton Heath, and St Bartholomew’s, Norbury, served by the school.

The school’s annual Fireworks Display on Friday 9th November drew a crowd of about 1,000 and provided a double celebration to mark the school’s outstanding grade.

Chair of governors, Edwin Abreo, expressed his confidence that the school would not take the accolade for granted and that work would now continue to maintain and build on this success. “Complacency is not an option” he said.

Based on information supplied by Stephen Beck.