Brinsworth Manor Junior rated "outstanding"

AN OUTSTANDING junior school has been honoured in a special awards event to recognise education's top achievers.

Brinsworth Manor Junior School was honoured by OFSTED at the event in Manchester, which was hosted by Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills, last week.

The recognition came after staff and pupils at the school earned itself a place in the education watchdog’s annual List of Outstanding Providers.

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Christine Dooley, head teacher of the school, said: “I could not have achieved this outstanding Ofsted grade by myself.

“By working with a superb team and getting the right people into that team we have become outstanding together.”

Mrs Dooley said that some of the school’s success could be attributed to recent initiatives that had seen staff and pupils treading the boards as they embraced the benefits of music and drama.

She said: “One great example of what we have done is an amazing partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

“Because we have a strong focus on music and drama this helps hugely and is the basis on which we make learning engaging.”

Youngsters from Brinsworth Manor Primary took got into character for a performance of King Lear at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Courtyard Theatre in Stratford upon Avon in June last year.

Pupils from Kiveton Park Meadows also acted out A Winter's Tale as part of an event which saw 253 children from 11 schools across the country perform a play with help from the RSC.

But Mrs Dooley pointed out that pupils worked hard in all areas, adding: “We never forget to work hard too to get high standards in the core subjects, maths and English, that really give children the foundation they need to get on in life and build on their talents.”

There are 4,020 schools, colleges, childcare and social care providers in England judged to be outstanding in 2008 and 2009—over 1,000 more than the previous year.

Other Rotherham schools to feature within Ofsted’s 2008/09 Outstanding Providers List are Maltby Craggs Infants School, Thrybergh Fullerton Primary School and Wickersley School and Sports College.

Ms Gilbert said: “I wholeheartedly congratulate Brinsworth Manor Junior School on their success and hard work in delivering such high standards.

“Excellence does not happen by chance, these providers have a real drive to inspire, challenge, and support children and young people.