Cuddington Croft Primary School has become one of the first local schools to be inspected under the new Ofsted arrangements which came into force at the beginning of January. The school in West Drive Cheam which was ranked 3rd out of 304 Primary Schools in Surrey by the Sunday Times for its Key Stage 2 results this past year was rated as a good school under the revised Ofsted criteria.

The Inspectors noted that the Cuddington pupils are polite, welcoming and proud of their school. They thoroughly enjoy school and learning throughout the school. From the Nursery to Year 6, pupils show mature attitudes to their work and constructively work in pairs and groups to discuss their activities and ideas. Their positive attitudes contribute strongly to their learning and to the calm and friendly atmosphere around the school. The inspectors commented on the teachers’ high expectations and that their confident and lively input meant that pupils frequently relish their learning. Teaching has a very positive impact on pupils' social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.

The report states that to improve further, the school should raise the overall quality of teaching and learning from good to outstanding by developing examples of outstanding teaching which already exist within the school. The school should also further strengthen the way it works in partnership with parents informing and updating them of relevant initiatives and the success of outcomes.

Headteacher, Michael Farnham, said “We weren’t quite sure what to expect under the new inspection regime. Schools no longer have time to prepare for an inspection as they did in the past. We received a phone call on the Monday and the inspectors arrived first thing on the Wednesday morning, so we were very pleased that all our records and materials used by the inspectors were up to date and ready for just such an occasion”.

Based on information supplied by Mrs D Thomas.