ON opening Nottingham’s Arnold Woodthorpe infants’ school more than 40 years ago, the then head-teacher remarked: “A school is not just a building, but it is the spirit within and the quality of education that counts.”
Though times have changed, the ethos has not, and as a result of its “quality of education”, Woodthorpe has just received a sixth consecutive glowing inspectors’ report.
The figures speak for themselves. Woodthorpe pupils got A* grades in virtually all literacy, numeracy and writing tests since the A* grade was introduced in 1997.
Headteacher Joan Eaton said: “Our success comes from knowing each child individually, from monitoring his or her progress closely. Our philosophy is built on caring. We place a great emphasis on quality teaching. It is a joy and a privilege watching a good teacher teach. As we walk through the main hall we see happy children, led by a happy teacher, singing happy songs. And indeed the inspectors noted: ‘The pupils and teachers are happy and enjoy the work they do’.
“There is a very strong ethos for learning, high expectations and a commitment to continual improvement. This is evident in the very high quality of teaching.”
Mrs Eaton believes cross-curricular teaching has played a vital role in the school’s success: “We might be doing a lesson about the Chinese new year, but we will tell them to write a story about a dragon, which helps with the literacy target, or make a list which helps with maths and numeracy. We place a very high emphasis on music, because the spin-offs are tremendous.”
