Pupils and teachers are celebrating after a primary school received a glowing report from education inspectors.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, in Wingate, was recently inspected by the Catholic Schools Inspectorate (CSI) and rated “good” overall and “outstanding” in Catholic life and mission.

The CSI judges Catholic schools across the country on overall effectiveness, Catholic life and mission, religious education and collective worship.

The school is also regularly assessed by Ofsted and was judged “good” back in 2024 under the previous system of grades.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School headteacher, Julie Hill, celebrates a "good" report by the Catholic Schools Inspectorate.

placeholder image — St Mary’s Catholic Primary School headteacher, Julie Hill, celebrates a "good" report by the Catholic Schools Inspectorate.

The CSI report states: “St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is a caring and distinctively Catholic school community with a strong commitment to the needs of the most vulnerable.

“Governors, senior leaders and all staff are passionately committed to ensuring the pupils know they are loved by God and can share this love with others.

"They are ambitious and constantly seek ways to develop provision.

"Pupils feel safe and happy.”

The report praises the school for helping pupils understand its Catholic ethos and its mission to “shine among them like the stars, lighting up the sky”.

The report states: “Staff work hard to celebrate the school's mission in all aspects of daily life.

“They offer pupils a wide variety of opportunities to live their faith.

"There is a noticeable sense of community, reflected in the quality of relationships and the strong culture of welcome.”

There are a number of areas the school can improve on however.

The report states: “Review the school’s mission to ensure its values are fully understood and embedded, and pupils and staff can articulate how the mission inspires them to act.”

The report also encourages leaders at the school to help people “focus on the personal impact” of experiences in prayer and “reflect on how they will adapt and improve future acts of worship and prayer”.

St Mary’s headteacher Julie Hill said: “This report truly captures the ethos of our wonderful school community and is a lovely celebration of all we stand for.

“Our staff are indeed passionate and deeply committed to the school’s mission, and we were delighted that the inspectors recognised this.

"They captured us perfectly when they said, ‘although this is a small community, it has a big heart.’”