Upwardly mobile Marden Lodge school

​​Marden Lodge school is on the up – and that’s official.

Staff and pupils at the Caterham primary school have been celebrating recently following the publication of the school’s June Ofsted inspection – and the good news is that for the first time in 21 years, Marden Lodge has attained the second highest-possible rating of ‘Good’.

Department of Education inspectors visited towards the end of the summer term but have only just published their findings, and Marden Lodge received good ratings in all of the six judgement categories, earning the school an overall ‘good’ verdict.

“Receiving a ‘Good’ judgement is a tremendous achievement and recognises the work of children, parents, staff, school leaders and the governors here at Marden Lodge,” said head teacher Kelly Storey.

“This is nothing less than the children and school community deserves and we would like to thank everyone for their support and contribution.”

The last time Marden had been inspected before this year was in July 2013, when it was identified as needing improvement. At that point, running of the school was taken over by the GLF Trust, a multi-academy group running more than a dozen schools, from new-build primaries to 90-year-old secondaries, across the south east of England.

Mrs Storey said the GLF group’s collaborative management style had made a real impact on life at Marden Lodge. “Being part of the GLF group has helped by providing support and rapid improvement in many areas including teaching, children’s achievements, leadership, curriculum, assessment, governance, finance, Early Years and behaviour,” she explained.

“The school has been through a lot in a short period of time but this grading is our reward. The teamwork of the school’s senior leaders and the way they set an example to staff and pupils was particularly praised, as was the consistent quality of the teaching.”

But she said the school also owed a debt of thanks to its parents and carers for their efforts in achieving the new status. “I’d like to thank all parents and carers who spoke with the inspection team and completed the Ofsted parental survey on-line,” she added. “Your comments were very helpful to the team.”

“As a school, we look to strive to improve all the time, so although attaining a ‘Good’ status is an achievement in its own right, we want this to just be the start of the journey for Marden Lodge and everyone who is part of it.”