Great moment for Rugby primary

And the way it has embraced being a school with, currently, 22 different languages – including German, Hungarian, Latvian, Romanian, Polish, Slovenian, Russian, Urdu and Tamil – has seen it just achieve the best Ofsted report in its history.

It achieved ‘good’ in all areas with the inspector praising the leadership and recognising head teacher Abi Huggins’ ambition to ensure all pupils achieve their best is also shared by staff and governors.

It said: “She has created a culture of high expectations where teaching and good behaviour flourish.”

It said teachers were ‘skilled at deepening the children’s learning’ and described them as having an ‘imaginative approach’ to teaching. The work of support staff in the school was also recognised with their contribution to the education of the children being ‘substantial’.

Ms Huggins has been head for five years and said its first good rating was achieved because of the constant desire to do the very best for pupils and a strong ethos of self-improvement.

She said: “This has been a journey like no other. There have been tears along the way, but never have we wavered from our belief of doing the best for the children in our care.

“We have never been Ofsted-driven and this result will not change what we do here.

“That said, it is wonderful to have the recognition that our school deserves. My staff work so exceptionally hard and the pupils are simply fantastic, they make everything worthwhile and we always do our very best by them.”

Chair of Governors, Corinna Robson, said: “This judgement is the result of a huge amount of work by Ms Huggins, her leadership team and all the staff at the school. I’m delighted the report recognises both the quality of teaching and our culture of high expectations, but also the caring and happy environment for the children here at St Andrew’s Benn.”

The pastoral side of the education at St Andrew’s Benn was also highly praised with Ofsted describing the children as ‘happy and safe in school because their welfare is given a high priority’.

It recognised that pupils’ personal development and behaviour are good, while safeguarding was highly praised, particularly ‘the level of care staff demonstrate towards pupils and the clear trust they have in the adults who look after them’.

The school plans to hold a party and a service of celebration and thanks.

n The full report is available on the school website at www.standrewsbennprimary.co.uk/