St Benedict's Rated as 'Outstanding'

Inspectors give school highest rating in all categories

St Benedict’s in Ealing is celebrating after inspectors rated the school as ‘Outstanding’.

The inspection report from the Diocese of Westminster judged the school ‘outstanding’ in all categories. Inspectors commended St Benedict’s for the excellence of its teaching and pupil-teacher relationships, the strength and cohesion of its community, its engagement with parents and other schools, and the quality of the school’s leadership and management. The inspection took place in May and was a full school inspection from the nursery to the sixth form. All Catholic schools - state and independent alike - are inspected by Westminster Diocese every 5 years.

The report praises the way in which St Benedict’s pupils are developed as leaders, through the school’s focus on issues of social justice, both in the UK and worldwide. This is achieved through an extensive voluntary service programme, in which sixth form students work in local charity shops, primary schools and residential homes for the elderly each week, and through St Benedict’s active commitment to charities such as The Passage (which supports London’s homeless), Mary’s Meals, and The Foundation of Goodness, which provides help for rural communities in Sri Lanka. The report also highlighted pupils’ “religious literacy”, their “exemplary behaviour and attitudes to learning” and the school’s “clear vision for religious education to be the best it can be”.

The Headmaster, Andrew Johnson, who came to the school in 2016 after being headmaster of Stoneyhurst school in Lancashire for ten years said: “We are delighted that the inspectors have recognised the school’s many strengths. The report is a great credit to our excellent staff and wonderful pupils.”

St Benedict's is an independent, co-educational school for pupils aged 3 to 18. Approximately 54% of St Benedict’s pupils are Catholics, with around 30% from other Christian denominations and approximately 6% from other faiths. The remaining pupils are from families who have not declared a faith.

June 13, 2019