Impressions of the school
From an external sports coach, March 2009
"The children have been exceptionally well behaved and have showed a significant improvement since the club began. I was also impressed by their knowledge of muscles in the body."
From a parent, Autumn 2008
"Thank you for inviting us to your tea party... The children were so polite and well organised."
From a new member of staff, Autumn 2008
"You are a great team and the staff have made me really welcome."
From parents' letters, July 2008
"My children have enjoyed their time at St Mary's and I would like to thank all the staff who have cared for them so well."
"I must say my son has thoroughly enjoyed his time at St Mary's and I appreciate your having him."
I can't explain my gratitude at the end of my child's life at St Mary's. I'm glad I picked St Mary's for being small and friendly... Lessons are always made fun... Every member of staff has taken the time to be patient, kind and caring."
"Our son has grown in self-confidence... You have given him opportunities to take responsibility, and to perform in a staggering variety of musical and sporting events."
"I am very grateful for the understanding and patience you have shown to my child throughout his Primary school years."
From an electrician working on the new classrooms, June 2008
"We go into lots of schools. I like the community feel here. Everyone is friendly and the children are expected to be polite."
From the Diocesan Schools Officer after the special 'Pause Day', June 2008
"What a wonderful day we had! I am so grateful for the chance to work with your fantastic children and brilliant staff, who so obviously share a common commitment to the children and to each other. There is a real sense of Christian care and respect for the children, and they are very fortunate to be in such a school."
From a student teacher at the end of a teaching practice, May 2008
"Thank you for welcoming me into your school and making my time here a very enjoyable experience."
After a visit to a Nursing Home, December 2007
"Very many thanks for bringing the school choir to our Home to enteratin our residents. The children's behaviour was excellent, displaying the best of manners which is a credit to both them and the school. The standard of the concert was first class with all the children giving of their best, and this was very much appreciated by our residents. It was good to chat to the children after the concert and hear their news."
From a parent of a child moving, October 2007
"I wish to thank all the staff at this wonderful school for all their care and attention."
From a student after a work placement, September 2007
"I loved spending the two weeks with you. Let's hope I get to teach at a great school like yours when I finish uni!"
From a parent moving house, September 2007
"Thank you for giving our son such a pleasurable learning experience at school. He has learnt so much and we are very proud of him in all his achievements, from his handwriting to his love of all sports, in which he was so much encouraged at your school."
From the Deputy Head of Kingson Arts Service, August 2007
"As I looked at the photographs we took, I had an overwhelming sense of how much the children love being at St Mary's. There were so many smiling faces and so much engagement in, and enjoyment of , the wide range of activities on offer. I couldn't help feeling how lucky those children are to be in such a nurturing, creative and fun environment, where they really are at the centre of the teaching and learning. It has been a privilege to work in such a positive setting where we were warmly welcomed by everyone."
From a parent's letter, July 2007
"In our 13 year association with St Mary's, the underlying ethos of the school hasn't changed, and it is the care for the children as individuals that has carried the school forward."
From a parent moving house, July 2007
"Thank you for the time my children have spent here. They have been happy throughout, made lovely friends and had some great teachers."
From our local M.P., June 2007
"I visited St Mary's School, Chessington, in my constituency on Friday, and had my usual enjoyable time..."
From two visiting student teachers, May 2007
"Thank you to all the staff for making me feel so welcome. It's a great school and I hope I have the chance to come back and work here again."
"Thank you for letting me observe your school. It was a wonderful experience."
From a childcare student finishing her placement, April 2007
You have all been very welcoming with your 'Good mornings' and smiles. I will miss you all dearly.
From a visiting Family Learning tutor, March 2007
Your school has a lovely atmosphere. I have enjoyed working here.
A family learning course in action
A letter from the Diocesan Director of Education to his 'tour guides' from Year 4, February 2007
Thank you for showing me round your school. You were extremely helpful and answered my questions very well. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. You obviously love your school and this came through in the enthusiastic way in which you talked to me about it.
From a parent moving house, February 2007
Thank you for the time my children have spent at St Mary's. They have both been very happy here, have made lots of friends and have made some wonderful achievements since being here.
From the leaders of a music workshop at the Hook Centre, January 2007
Thank you so much for bringing your pupils to our workshop. We had a very rewarding and fulfilling time and greatly enjoyed working with your pupils.
From the letter to pupils by the Ofsted inspector, September 2006
Thank you all for making us feel welcome. We were able to see that yours is a good school... All the adults are working together well to make it both a happy place and one where you all succeed... An important reason that you do well is that you enjoy school, behave well and work hard. Well done to you all.
From a visiting inspector, June 2006
Please will you thank your two Year 6 pupils for my tour of the school. They are great ambassadors for what you are doing.
From a parent, June 2006
Thank you to all the staff at St Mary's for taking care of our daughter so well and making her start in school so happy.
From a visiting inspector, February 2006
The pupils I met were articulate, highly motivated, reflective and confident. It was obvious from our discussions that it is 'O.K.' to be good and able at St Mary's. The pupils were delightful.
From a visiting music group, January 2006
Just a quick note to say thank you for the opportunity to perform at your school - the children were absolutely wonderful and a real pleasure to work with. We hope to see you again soon.
From a parent, December 2005
I would like to express our sincere and enormous gratitude to all the teachers and staff at St Mary's for the way you have all looked after our son. He has had a very happy time at St Mary's.
From a local education journalist, October 2005
There's a nice atmosphere here, isn't there? (For his full article, please click here.)
From a student observing and helping in school, September 2005
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at your school and learnt a great deal from the teachers I observed.
From a teacher moving on, July 2005
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to work at St Mary's. You have all been so welcoming and supportive.
From a parent who commented on a questionnaire, April 2005
Lovely small community school where every child is known by the teachers and the children know each other.
From a speaker at school Assembly, March 2005
Your children were beautifully behaved.
From a parent, March 2005
I would just like to give a big thank you for the professionalism and helpful assistance of the teachers who helped nurse our daughter while she was ill on the school journey. Despite this she enjoyed herself very much.
From the Diocesan inspector, February 2005
Visitors are made welcome and relationships with staff and between pupils are respectful, easy and comfortable. The school buildings are inviting and clean, with children's work displayed interestingly as evidence of much purposeful activity.
From a visitor at an Open Evening, January 2005
The Open Evening at St Mary's gave us a true insight into school life in today's modern world. We were impressed not only by the layout and facilities at St Mary's but by the family atmosphere encouraged and obviously enjoyed by all pupils in the school. Our Year 6 guide for the evening was very informative in all aspects of school life, including how to gain access to the school web-site. The most important thing for us as parents is to hear that she enjoys being at St Mary's and is very happy there.
From the staff of a Nursing Home, December 2004
Very many thanks to you and your staff for bringing the school choir to our home to entertain our residents. The standard was excellent, and I know that our residents thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon's entertainment. The children's behaviour was outstanding, which is a credit to your dedicated staff.
Musicians at Southborough Nursing Home, December 2004
From a visiting teacher, September 2004
Thank you for my visit to your friendly and welcoming school. The positive energy and enthusiasm of both children and staff in the classrooms is very apparent.
From a student teacher observing in our school, September 2004
All the staff were extremely welcoming, as were all of the children I was fortunate to spend time with. My three days at St Mary's were an invaluable experience and gave me an insight into how rewarding it can be to be a teacher.
From a family moving house, July 2004
Thank you to all the staff for making the girls' time at St Mary's a safe and enjoyable environment in which to grow and learn.
From student teachers visiting from Colorado, May 2004
Thank you so much for welcoming us into your school. We had a great time and really learned a lot. Your hospitality will not soon be forgotten.
Thanks very much for letting me be a part of your school community these past two weeks. I have been greatly blessed by your hospitality and kindness. May the Lord bless each of you as you continue to educate and influence the students.
From the Diocesan inspector, March 2004
From a family moving house, March 2004
We would like to thank all the staff at St Mary's for their continuous support during these important years of our son's education.
From a local newspaper reporter, March 2004
When I visited St Mary's Primary School, in Church Lane, Chessington, the children enthusiastically bent my ear as we toured. They wanted to tell me about all the things they have been up to from composting with the environmental club, the Green Gang, to masquerading as Roman soldiers as part of a recent field trip.
The school council has been effective in implementing several of its ideas, and the children I spoke to had an unusual amount of compassion for those in the years below. As well as a friendship bench, which pupils sit on if they are feeling left out, there will soon be pupils acting as mediators. They will be trained in how to deal with problems between groups of friends or individual pupils, and will act as a port-of-call for anyone with a problem. Unsurprisingly for the school, there have been too many volunteers, so staff will run role-plays to find the most suitable candidates.
Paul Taylor, headteacher for three years, said: "This is a friendly, hard working community. There are good relationships and we are all improving together. One of the things that has changed in my time here is we have gathered a more mixed community, culturally. Most of the children feel at home here very quickly."
The school has been oversubscribed for the past two years, affirming its growing status. Staff have settled, after a period of low retention, and there is now a more stable and comfortable feeling than when Mr Taylor took over.
He has been aided by his new deputy, Linda Rainbow, who started in September. She came from Green Lane Primary and has some exciting ideas for the school's future. She said: "We have worked hard on thinking more carefully about teaching and learning styles, so lessons are arranged and thought about, with a range of activities to suit all preferences of learning style." The school has introduced characters, such as Wilf, who in the form of cardboard cutouts helps children learn What am I Looking For? when they go about their work.
St Mary's is a voluntary aided church school, which promotes the Christian ethos in daily assemblies and regular trips to neighbouring St Mary's Church. The school has been in Chessington since 1826, and at its present site since 1975.
There have been several improvements made to accommodate the 250 pupils. And a bid has been put in for £2million of Government funding that would aid the process immensely. Some children have lessons in temporary buildings, and the money will be used to build permanent buildings, a bigger hall and to promote community relations and participation.
St Mary's continues to grow in popularity and its academic results are improving. The school looks set to continue as a major part of the wider Chessington family.
From a family moving house, February 2004
It's going to be a big wrench to leave such a friendly, happy school.
From the Mirage Theatre Company, November 2003
The children were a lovely audience. The staff were good too - none of them cried!
From a staff member moving to a new post, November 2003
I have been very happy here; you have a lovely school and a superb staff. I would highly recommend St Mary's to anyone choosing a school.
From a parent moving house, October 2003
I am happy with the progress that my child has made since joining the Reception Class and I would like to thank you for all you have done and for helping him to adjust to full-time school. He has been very happy at St Mary's and I know he will miss you all.
From a student from Chessington, June 2003
Thank you very much to all the staff and pupils at St Mary's School for making me feel so welcome on such an enjoyable work placement.
From a parent helper on a school trip, June 2003
I would like to thank you very much for inviting me on your school trip. I enjoyed myself very much as I'm sure the children did too. Having not been on a school trip before, I wasn't sure what to expect but I found the children to be extremely well behaved and great fun to be with. In fact on the train on the way to London, a lady boarded and sat with us. She asked me where we were going and she then commented what well behaved children I had in my group. Thank you once again.
From a student teacher from Texas, March 2003
I am so grateful that I have been given the opportunity to visit such an amazing school. Each one of you has been so kind and I appreciate it more than you know. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING ME FEEL AT HOME! GOD BLESS!
From the Diocesan inspector, March 2003
Staff and Governors work hard to realise the school's mission statement to create a 'secure and caring Christian environment'. There is a deep Christian core to the life and work of the school... evidenced in the way individual pupils are treated, the respect given to all ages by staff and the value the school attaches to its partnerships with church and local community... I had the opportunity to look at a selection of pupils' work...and many pupils clearly take great pride in their work.
From LEA inspectors, February 2003
From the organiser of the GLASSFOREVER Education Roadshow, June 2002
May I thank you very much for hosting the inaugural GLASSFOREVER Roadshow. Your friendliness, co-operation and, above all, enthusiasm were very much appreciated. We were very impressed by the interest shown by all the classes, and being able to see the quality of the posters produced by Year 4 was a fitting end to the day.
The GLASSFOREVER Roadshow held its national launch at St Mary's in June 2002
From the leader of the after-school art club, Spring and Summer 2002
A big thank-you to Mr Paul Taylor and all the staff and students at St Mary's Primary School. As leader of St Mary's School Art Club, I have been very grateful for all your creative support and advice. Wishing everybody the very best for next term, and I shall treasure our collective and creative times. A special thank-you to Tony for clearing up so cheerfully after us!
From the Director of Education for the Diocese of Guildford, April 2002:
It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit... I especially enjoyed our coffee time with the staff, who were all so welcoming and enthusiastic... It is so heartening to hear of the very positive changes in the school... I am pleased that the Diocese has been a support to you and trust that in due course we can, together, further improve the buildings and facilities.
From the new head of Assessment and Support for Learning in Kingston, April 2002:
I very much enjoyed the tour of the school. The spring lambs on display in the entrance hall are very lovely; the calmness seemed to permeate the school. Disability accessibility and the welcoming feel of the school are clearly strengths.
From the Diocesan inspector, February 2002:
The school is in much better heart following the installation of the new classrooms in October2001... I felt that the school is responding tremendously well to the increasing diversity of its school population, and it was a joy to see how it was integrating children with particular physical disabilities and behavioural needs.
From the parent of a Year 6 pupil, July 2001
Bringing our children to St Mary's School for the past sixteen years, we have seen many changes. But what hasn't changed is what really matters - the all-round development of the child:
preparing for life
an eagerness to learn
caring for and appreciating other people
becoming confident that they are valued for who they are, and not just what they have achieved
knowing that the staff care for each child as an individual
These values are what makes St Mary's special, and I hope they will not be lost in the competition for results.
We will miss St Mary's, but keep fond memories.
Part of the whole-school photograph taken in June 2001