St Stephens School Ranked "Outstanding" by Ofsted

Parents at St Stephen's Church of England school are celebrating another success for our local state primary - which was rated "Outstanding" in all categories by Ofsted, the school inspectorate. 

St Stephen's School is affiliated with St Stephen's Church, Shepherd's Bush and was built at the same time, circa 1849-50.  

St Stephen's is led by the charismatic Michael Schumm, a well-respected head whose good nature and pursuit of excellence helps to give the school its unique character. 

FOSS
Parents are heavily involved in school activities and the Friends of St Stephen's (FOSS) raises considerable sums to provide extra help for pupils, with a particular focus on one-on-one assistance for pupils with special needs.

2021 Times Ranking

In 2021 the school celebrated another success - being been ranked No 38 in the UK by The Times, placing it once again near the very top of the UK education league tables.

Climbing the league tables

Michael Schumm in festive mood

The last time St Stephen's was inspected by Ofsted was in 2011, when it was also rated "outstanding". In 2017 St Stephen's was ranked equal fifth in the Sunday Times list of the top 500 State Primary Schools in the UK - and also featured in The Tatler's list of Best State Primary Schools.

There are almost 21,000 primary schools in the UK. 

Statement from Susan Wijeratna

Susan Wijeratna, Chair of S Stephen's Board of Governors, wrote to parents about the Ofsted news:

"It is with great pride that I write to you today to share the Ofsted inspection report.  Please do take the time to read through the report - it really does encapsulate everything that makes St Stephen’s such a wonderful school.  I have read many inspection reports in my time in education, and there has been a recent trend of producing somewhat generic summaries that lack any sense of what a school is really about.  It is huge credit to St Stephen’s, therefore, that the same cannot be said of this report.  The lead inspector, David Radomsky, captures the very spirit of the school beautifully.  The sense of community shines through from the start where he refers to the school as “one big happy family”. In the feedback meeting at the end of the inspection, Mr Radomsky ran out of superlatives – so impressed was he by the pupils, the staff and the engagement of the parents and governors.

The report states that the school “has a vision and ambition for excellence in all that it does”.  We all know that the person who sits behind that vision is the extraordinary Mr Schumm, but he would be the first person to say that his vision would not be realised without the tenacity, determination and total belief of the incredibly hard-working staff, the support of you as parents, the governors and, of course, your amazing children.  So, on behalf of the governors, thank you.  Thank you for taking the time to respond to the Ofsted parent questionnaire, thank you for the time and energy you put into volunteering at the school and for all the work you do as part of FOSS, but above all thank you trusting the care and education of your children to our school."

With all best wishes.

Susan Wijeratna

Chair of Governors

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