At St Mary's, we aim to build a culture of courage; this means the courage to continually improve so that we can give the very best that we can to our children. As part of this, all leaders support others in their development and carry out regular quality assurance to both celebrate success, and to support improvement. The Senior Leadership Team also write and monitor a whole school improvement plan. Our priorities for development for 2025-26 are:

1. Improving outcomes for all learners through a robust curriculum and assessment measures (Achievement)

2. The strength within the EYFS at St Mary’s is maintained and strengthen during a period of change, ensuring that strong foundations are preserved not only in EYFS but across the whole KS1  (Early Years)

3. To strengthen leadership and governance to ensure leaders and governors feel empowered to lead school improvement (Leadership and Governance)

4. To enhance pupils’ personal development and well-being by embedding a whole-school approach to character education, emotional literacy, and mental health support, ensuring all pupils feel safe, valued, and equipped for life beyond school. (PD and Well-being)

5. All learners achieve the best possible outcomes and succeed across all areas of the curriculum, enabling them to flourish at all levels (Inclusion)

As part of our work with SNMAT, we are also visited twice per term by the Academy Improvement Director and/or the CEO. These are partnership days with governors and senior leaders that celebrate areas of success and identify next steps for development. Feedback from the day is then given directly to our governors through a 'Governor Keeping in Touch (GKIT) meeting. You can find out more about this process on the MAT website link below.