A short Ofsted Inspection of St Mary’s in March 2017 was extremely positive and confirmed that St Mary’s Catholic Academy continues to be good. A copy of the full inspector’s letter is available in the link on the menu on this page The following quotes are taken from the body of the inspector’s letter:

• The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the inspection of your predecessor school.
• Pupils spoken to during the inspection showed great pride in their school and parents wholeheartedly appreciate the efforts made by staff.
• Comments from parents such as ‘The staff go above and beyond what is expected’ and ‘The staff clearly have the best interests of the children at heart’ were typical.
• Staff were equally positive; their comments portray a school where people are valued and supported. One member of staff put this very clearly: ‘Each and every pupil knows there are people in school who care deeply for them…who will go the extra mile for them…that is something of which I am incredibly proud.’

Our Investors in People status was renewed in April 2018. The latest report is available on our website and contains the following comments:“The sense of team is very strong in the Academy, everyone pitches in to get the job done. As a result there is a strong culture of everyone learning and sharing together. In addition everyone is clear about the standard of work required.”

“People described a ‘family’ culture where staff work collaboratively for the benefit of the Students and the community.”

“High levels of staff retention; people do not leave St Mary’s Catholic Academy.” 

“People unanimously commented on the Academy as being a ‘great place to work’ referring to the environment as being hardworking but friendly, supportive and flexible.”“People said that they appreciated the extra treats they received e.g. refreshments, breakfasts/ buffets at end of term, 100 minute extended CPD, opportunities to undertake research/ projects/ qualifications to list but a few.”

At GCSE our attainment, based on centre assessed grades, broke all previous records with 67% of students achieving grade 4-9 in English and Maths. Our focus remains on helping students make better progress and on closing the progress gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged children.

At A level results, based on centre assessed grades, were the best we have ever achieved with 100% pass rate and 62% of grades at A or B and 68.8% of vocational grades at distinction or distinction*. All of our Year 13 students were successful in moving on to their first or second choice of university or to employment or a high level apprenticeship.