St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is a whitewashed, single-storey building less than a mile from the sea in the Cornish town of Penzance.
It looks like a typical primary school, but it has become something of a powerhouse for the professional development of staff across the area.
When you hear executive headteacher Demelza Bolton describe the rich programme of professional development, coaching and mentoring that St Mary’s leads across its four-school cluster, it is something of a surprise to learn that the school was in a very different place just four years ago.
Ms Bolton joined the school in 2016 and noticed a lack of staff in leadership roles and a CPD “blank canvas” – points that were picked up by the Ofsted inspectors who arrived just five weeks later. They placed the school in special measures and highlighted the development of CPD as a key action in the post-inspection improvement plan.
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