Denominational Report
An Outstanding school with 140 years’ experience in Catholic education
We are delighted to share the findings from our Statutory Denominational Inspection Report, led by the Education Commission, Catholic Diocese of Southwark and celebrate our achievement of an Outstanding status.
Our whole school community are overwhelmed with the report findings, which states that “La Retraite provides a highly effective holistic education for its students, which is deeply rooted in Gospel values and the teachings of the Catholic Church”. The school is built to our strong Catholic values and principles, encouraging all girls to be ambitious, courageous, spirited, and successful leaders of the future.
Highlights of the report include:
- Leaders and managers at all levels show a genuine devotion to students and families
- The Governing Body plays an active role in supporting and developing the Catholic nature of the community
- Leaders and governors are deeply committed to the Church’s mission in education. Service to all members of the community is at the heart of their work. They have a clear vision and are ambitious for the growth and impact of the Catholic and spiritual life of the school
- The school’s commitment to students, staff, families, and the wider community manifestly demonstrates its central mission of service firmly based on Gospel values and the teachings of the Catholic Church
- Students appreciate, value, and participate actively in the Catholic life and mission of the school. They contribute to making a community that values differences. The students are happy, confident, articulate, kind and tolerant
- Pastoral care is outstanding. Students respond positively to very high expectations of staff who consistently act as excellent role models
- Students have a well-developed understanding of Catholic Social Teaching and respond well to those less fortunate
- The enrichment programme is being extended to give students a wider range of opportunities to participate in activities that will increase resilience and self-esteem
- The school is totally inclusive of students with different strengths and offers unstinting support to their families
- The headteacher is passionately committed to building a praying and worshipping community… Leaders and governors are deeply committed to the delivery of high-quality acts of worship
- The Parish Priest offers excellent support to the school in providing acts of worship.
With our long-standing history of success and tradition of excellence in all that we do, we proudly add this Outstanding accolade to our list of achievements. All members of our school community have worked hard towards the attainment of our Outstanding status and are delighted that this provides the affirmation we have sought to achieve for our girls.
The report highlighted that the Headteacher has a clear vision for the education and welfare and is supported by senior staff, who are effective in developing the Catholic life of the school and improving standards of teaching and learning.
Upon this, our Headteacher, Dominic Malins commented: “I am delighted that we have been awarded Outstanding in our recent inspection. The report captures the strengths and works of our exceptional staff, students, chaplain, and families, whilst bringing attention to the efforts we made in improving the outcomes and life changes for our young adults. I am incredibly proud that the successes of our school community have been recognised and look forward to working together on the development areas highlighted and building upon our track record of educating successful women of the future.”