Ofsted Report Article
Friday Novemeber 11th 2005
Education: Head says clothes discipline has helped foster togethernessPupils in the pink over red uniforms
By Sion Donovan
THE NEWS
CHILDRENS pride in their red uniforms helped a school to pass an inspection with flying colours.
Government inspectors said that Newtown Primary School, in Gosport, 'was Outstanding' and 'provided very good value for money'.
They said consistently good teaching enabled children to make very good progress.
They also said parents and children had a real pride in their school, as was evident in the end-of-week assembly.
Headteacher Matt Prince said school uniforms had helped maintain the 'happy community of the school'.
Mr Prince said that when he came to the school in 2000 it had not been a requirement for children to wear the uniform, with some doing so and others not. This has since changed.
He said: 'But by adopting red as the school colour they feel more a part of the school and I think the parents see that too'.
The Ofsted inspectors praised the teaching of the children with special needs and were also impressed with the emphasis on 'fun' in and out of the classroom.
Mr Prince said 'We want to make learning exciting so we've made use of the community, taking the children to residential homes, using facilities at Brune Park like the dance hall as well as using our own garden'.
The schools award winning garden was targeted by vandals back in April, when the generous donations of News readers made sure the garden was in top condition for the Gosport in Bloom awards.
Parents have highly praised the school in the Ofsted report, which includes comments such as: 'I wish all schools were like this' and 'I cannot praise the school enough for what it has done'. Reading, writing and science levels at the school compared well to the national average but the inspectors were slightly concerned about the teaching of maths.
But Mr Prince said 'We've recognised the need to develop pupils' maths ability and we already have specialist maths classes for that'.
The Ofsted inspectors concluded that the school had a 'constant drive for improvement' and 'all pulled together' for the good of the pupils.
Mr Prince added 'All members of the school community were delighted with the report which gave us real recognition for the exceptional effort and work that happens at the school.' Back to top
