St Christopher’s School Receives Excellent Inspection Report

St Christopher’s school in Wrexham has received an “Excellent” Estyn Inspection following its Inspection in March.

The school is a special school with a range of special educational needs. These range from moderate to severe learning difficulties.

Overall there are 285 pupils on roll at the school, who are aged from six to 19 years. There are 203 boys and 82 girls. Pupils come mainly from Wrexham County Borough with the exception of 17 pupils who attend the school from Denbighshire, Shropshire, Flintshire, Cheshire and Hull.

The school is divided into five departments. These are the junior, middle and senior departments, the behaviour support and autistic department, and the independent living department.

In its summary Inspectors judged the schools current performance as excellent because standards of achievement are excellent; provision for pupils’ health and well-being is outstanding; learning experiences are well planned to meet pupils’ needs, abilities and interests; pupils have very good opportunities to follow an exceptional range of vocational courses; assessment is rigorous and fully informs curriculum and lesson planning; staff manage pupils’ behaviour skilfully; and pupils receive excellent care, support and guidance.

Prospects for improvement were also judged as excellent because the Headteacher, supported by the senior leadership team, has a very clear vision for the school that is shared by all staff; leaders have a very good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and the school’s strong partnerships which impact positively on the wellbeing and outcomes for pupils.

Overall the whole report shows the school to be performing as “excellent” with the only exception being teaching which is described as good.

Headteacher Maxine Pittaway said: “We are absolutely delighted with the report and I would like to thank the Inspectors for their assessment which reflects the dedication of our teaching and Leadership team and of the governors. Our pupils aspirations and achievements remain our overall focus and we will not become complacent by this excellent report and will continue to improve to achieve excellence at St Christopher’s. We look forward to the future with confidence.”

Within each inspection, Estyn comments on a number of areas in the school, including teaching, the learning environment, partnership working and resource management.

The school’s learning environment has been described by Estyn, who note in the report: “The school environment is vibrant, welcoming and stimulating.”

Estyn also states that: “The school has a very positive and inclusive ethos which promotes diversity exceptionally well and celebrates pupils’ achievements. It is a nurturing community in which pupils, staff and members of the local community are highly valued and respected.”

Cllr Michael Williams, Lead Member for Children’s Services and Education, said: “It has been a pleasure to read such an excellent Estyn report and the school staff, governors and pupils are to be congratulated for this outstanding achievement.”

(Pictured above: A party at St Christopher’s celebrating the inspection results)