Sarisbury school rated outstanding in church inspection

Inspectors rated a church school in Sarisbury Green as outstanding, a newly published report revealed.

Sarisbury Junior School

Sarisbury Junior School received the top grade after a one and a half day inspection by an officer from the Diocese of Portsmouth – the Church of England body for Portsmouth and surrounding regions.

The report, by inspector Chris Pritchard, praised the Church of England school for its stable connection between senior staff and the vicar at St Paul’s Church.

“This is an outstanding school because the core Christian values of love, hope and forgiveness ensure every child is treated as unique and valued as a child of God,” the report stated.

“Sarisbury is outstanding as a church school because it is inclusive and invitational. Children and adults are respected as individuals whatever their faith background, yet the school maintains a deep-seated distinctive Christian character.

“Parents, children and staff spoke of the sense of family within the school, how they are made to feel part of the family of Sarisbury Junior and that their well-being is of vital importance to the school community.”

It mentioned elements the school could focus on to develop, including to develop further the pupils’ voice in expressing the Christian character within the school and to the community it serves, as well as review the signs and symbols on the outside of the school for an opportunity to reflect the Christian foundation at the site in Allotment Road.

Head teacher Andy Stockton was delighted with the grade and said: “I’m very pleased and we’re really proud of the judgment.

“We were outstanding in a previous inspection in 2007 so the school has maintained a high focus of Christian dimension.

“Chris was really impressed with the way the children, parents and staff described the school.

“The links we have with St Paul’s are excellent and we work very closely with Reverend Matheson and the St Paul’s team.

“We give a special thanks to Penny and Mike Cooper, who are members of the church, who come in to read Bible stories to the children in a really creative and engaging way. As a consequence the school has developed a lot in that time and the links with St Paul’s have strengthened.”

He said the school will consider an activity involving a re-design of the sign to reflect the Christian values.