Upton St. James Church of England Primary School couldn’t have asked for a better start to 2015 as it has been successful in two inspections and also been placed top of the Primary School league tables for Torbay.

The Minister of State for schools, David Laws, has also written to the Headteacher at Upton St. James congratulating them on ‘making such a difference to the future success of the pupils’.

The school has been awarded ‘Good’ overall and ‘Outstanding’ for its Christian values in its latest Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools report. It has also been successful in obtaining Unicef’s UK Rights Respecting School Award at Level 1, one of the few schools in the South West to have achieved this.

The National Society Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools report stated that ‘the school, through its distinctive Christian character, is outstanding at meeting the needs of all learners.’

The report also highlighted that:

• The school’s highly effective leadership and the commitment of all staff to all pupils’ well-being and academic development help to promote the school’s foundation and ethos.
• The school’s distinctive Christian values are demonstrated in the inclusive and caring relationships across the school community.
• The school has redeveloped its long-standing links with the local church creating positive and mutually beneficial partnerships.
• All pupils, of any faith or none, feel cared for and supported by the school’s emphasis on inclusivity and love.
• All staff members also feel supported and their well-being is promoted through continuing professional development.
• Pupils’ behaviour is of the highest standard, all relationships across the school are positive and strong.

The report also references the school’s second achievement in securing the Rights Respecting School Award by saying that: “all the staff members, through the leading example of the Headteacher, ensure that the whole curriculum is informed by the school’s Christian vision and by the school’s emphasis on the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child. This shared responsibility and commitment promotes appropriate spiritual development, excellent behaviour and attitudes of forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, love and trust.”

Headteacher Claire Prynn said: “Receiving such positive results from both these inspections, and the news that we are the top school in Torbay for children’s progress is great news for the school.

“Myself, the staff and the pupils have worked hard to ensure that our mission statement ‘Every Child an Able Child’ is part of our every day learning. This has led us to achieve high standards for children’s academic progress and their emotional well-being. The letter from the Minister of State for Schools confirms our success.”

To achieve the Level One of a Rights Respecting School means that the school and its pupils are underpinning their leadership and management with rights-respecting values and the whole school community, including parents, has learnt about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The school’s rights-respecting ethos empowers children to become active citizen and learners. The assessor went on to say that it would like to encourage the school to be an ambassador school for the UNCRC.

To learn more about how the school is a Rights Respecting School, visit their website: www.upton-st-james-primary.torbay.sch.uk. The latest Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools report can also be found here.