Congratulations to St Martin's Folkestone - An Outstandng School

Children and parents at Folkestone St Martin's Primary School in Horn Street, Folkestone have today been sent home with the news that St Martin's has been assessed as OUTSTANDING in every one of the five assessment categories in their recent Ofsted evaluation.

Chair of Governors at St Martin's, Tim Prater, was naturally delighted. Tim said:

"Two years ago we had a pretty disappointing Ofsted Inspection at St Martin's. We didn't feel some of the judgements were fair, but at that time we promised parents and children that we would work together to address the points Ofsted identified and that we would maintain our 'strong sense of caring'.

"As Ofsted acknowledged two years ago: 'The promotion of pupils' social, moral, cultural and spiritual education is very strong' - we were determined not to lose that.

"And in their recent visit in April, it's clear that Ofsted agree we've kept that promise and the school has delivered improvement and Outstanding results across the board.

"A two step improvement from 'Requires Improvement' to 'Outstanding' in one go is pretty rare, making the result even more special.

"Outstanding is the highest level available, and to achieve Outstanding in all inspection categories is down to the hard work and determination of Headteacher Kate Love and the whole school team over not just the last 2 years, but starting well before that.

"Children, Parents, Staff and Governors all knew St Martin's was an outstanding school. With their recent visit, Ofsted agreed. We're really proud, but are already focused on continuing that improvement."

A copy of the full report has been sent home to parents, and will be available on the Ofsted website from next week.