An analysis on a visit to St. Jude's (C of E) Primary School in old Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Abstract

St. Jude's (Church of England) Primary School is situated in Old Portsmouth in Southern England. Last year about 420 pupils attended this school from all over the city of Portsmouth. The school specializes in the Able Child Programme and it defines a number of principles for the provision for gifted and talented children. Recently it also achieved Beacon status for its provision for Special Educational Needs and financial Achievement Awards. The school aims to provide a challenging yet caring environment where children can develop the skills they will need to be good members of society. Academically the pupils achieve high standards and this is due to the experienced and dedicated teaching staff and the excellent leadership of the headteacher. The good climate that exists within the school and its community helps the pupils to perform above average in the national examinations. The school performs outstandingly well in the core subjects: English, Mathematics and Science. It also offers its pupils a wide range of extra-curricular activities which are organized after school hours. The Ofsted Report (March 2002) did not raise any key issues for improvement. It only recommended to the governors, the LEA and the diocese to implement improvements to the external fabric of the building and advised the school to develop the quality of the pupils' annual reports.