OFSTED joy for school (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

OFSTED joy for school

PUPILS and staff at Northleach Primary School have two reasons to be smiling this week.

Not only has the school been given a prestigious award by Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), but a glowing OFSTED report to boot.

In fact, OFSTED inspectors have praised the whole of Northleach community for its unselfish work in support of the school.

The behaviour and hard graft of the pupils was also highlighted as a particular strength.

Headteacher Debby Harris said: "We are very lucky here because the community is 100 percent behind the school, which makes a huge difference to everybody.

"The staff work so hard and it's fantastic to have that work acknowledged."

Core subjects like English and Maths were well above average standards, and the teaching was said to be inspired by a stimulating curriculum.

English was a particular strength, and the younger children's results in recent reading assessments have placed them in the top five percent of the country.

However, art and geography were earmarked for improvement, while improvements have already been planned in science and information technology.

"I think this reflects the position for a lot of schools at the moment who are working on these extra subjects," said Mrs Harris.

"It's time now to bring back a fuller, broader curriculum, and it is fantastic and a joy to have to work on art. We have a big project organised for next year and a number of other things on the action plan."

GCC Quality Assurance accreditation was also recently granted the school, which recognises good quality provision in the foundation stages of education.

Mrs Harris said: "It's been really lovely to have the recognition, but also our reception teacher Carolyn Lawrence has been asked to go and work as a mentor to help people in other foundation settings. It's lovely to have her skills recognised, as well as those of our Learning & Skills Worker Jacqui Hutt."