A message from Miranda Baldwin, Headteacher.

As you are aware St Matthew Academy was inspected by Ofsted in October 2019. The inspection was carried out over 2 days on the 16th and 17th October with a team of four inspectors visiting the school. I am delighted to share with you that following the inspection, Ofsted has judged St Matthew Academy to be a Good school.

This report and the criteria against which it measures schools are very different from the last time that this school was inspected, in 2017. As Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector explained recently, ‘(These changes will) move Ofsted’s focus away from headline data to look instead at how schools are achieving these results, and whether they are offering a curriculum that is broad, rich and deep, or simply teaching to the test.’ In the context of the new, more challenging framework and as being one of the first schools in London to be assessed against it, we are incredibly proud of the judgements that have been made. 

It was most pleasing to have Ofsted also tell us, in their verbal feedback that:

'Behaviour in all lessons is of a very high standard’

‘Across the Academy absolutely no low-level disruption'

'Good levels of cooperation, pupils support each other with their learning'

‘Personal development is interwoven through the curriculum, wider curriculum and through relationships’

'Real focus on being a good human being'

‘Subject knowledge is strong across the school’

'Teachers make it the best possible learning experience for all pupils'

‘Leaders have created the environment where “endeavour is together”'

'Senior leaders allow subject leaders to be the experts... this is powerful'

'No doubt there is lots of evidence of pupils being able to do more and know more'

‘Leaders at all levels have a strong moral imperative for the children they serve’

On behalf of everyone at the Academy, I want to say thank you to our wonderful pupils and all those parents and carers and members of the local community including our feeder primary schools,  who have supported us over the last few challenging years and continue to do so. The Ofsted Parent View survey was overwhelmingly positive about our academy.

93% of parents said that their child does well at this school and 92% said their child is happy at this school. Whilst there is always room for improvement and we are not complacent, these survey returns made for very encouraging reading. It is also important to acknowledge the strength of our Governing Board – members have worked tirelessly to support the staff and pupils at the Academy and have acted as ‘critical friends’ to school leaders ensuring they are always challenged and supported to improve on current best. And of course, none of this would have been possible without the hard work, dedication and commitment of the SMA staff team.

The full Ofsted Inspection Report is available to access on our website below!

I look forward to continuing to work alongside you as St Matthew Academy starts the next stage in its journey to becoming a truly great school at the heart of the community it serves.