A SMALL West Devon Primary School has turned itself around and been taken off special measures following a greatly improved Ofsted report.

And now there are hopes a £1-million project will see Halwill Primary School move to purpose-built accommodation at Halwill Junction in the next two years.

Halwill?s Victorian-built school has just 76 pupils, but the building is felt to be unsuitable for modern teaching.

Headteacher David Jones said the school could not have overcome its struggles without the support of parents, governors and the whole community.

The dramatic turnaround has happened in the last two years since a critical Ofsted report in March 2001.

The biggest change in the school?s history could still be to come, if the details can be worked out on a plan to move it to purpose-built buildings to meet the needs of 21st century education.

The school is in desperate need of new accommodation. The latest Ofsted report identified the problem: ?Many improvements have been made to the accommodation, which was in a very poor state. It is still inadequate for modern needs, but the staff make best use of it.?

West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett has backed the school?s initiative to find new premises and was supporting an application by county education chiefs for a central government grant for the project.

Mr Jones said there would be a public consultation later in the year, a site had been earmarked but there were still some details to be worked out.

He said: ?What we have at present is an old building with lots of add-on buildings and an inadequate site. We have had problems with a leaking roof. We want to enable the school to be a leading small school in the area.?

Mr Jones said teamwork was important for improving a school which had been identified as having failings. ?The recipe for turning a school around is ensuring the team is well looked after and that colleagues are respected and allowed to develop. When everyone is looked after, it becomes a team.?

The headteacher felt the children had noticed an improved atmosphere at the school in the last two years. ?It?s a much happier school,? he said.

The school recently opened a new state-of-the-art computer suite, giving pupils the chance to use the latest in IT technology.

There are also plans to install video conferencing facilities in the suite to link up with school?s around the world. Mr Jones said: ?In this part of Devon children are fairly isolated. It will broaden their horizons to be able to talk to children around the world, from very different cultures.?

Mr Jones said the effort from the community to support the school had been ?tremendous?. The bright new computer suite had been made possible thanks to the hard work of parents and governors, who had come in over Christmas and New Year to get the work done.

Mr Jones said he wanted to thank the team who had worked to turn the outdated classroom into a state of the art computer suite. ?David Dunbar, Andrew Richards, Terry Smith and Wayne Counter all made an absolutely supreme effort.?

The positive Ofsted inspector?s report states: ?This is a good school that provides a wide range of valuable learning opportunities for its pupils.?

The Ofsted report notes standards in English, mathematics and science are ?above average? and test results having declined between 1998 and 2001, are rising more quickly than the national trend.

The report says: ?The headteacher provides very good leadership and management. He is fully supported by a committed and hard working staff and by a very good governing body.?

Mr Jones said the community support for the school had been demonstrated by the phenomenal success of a recent Friends of Halwill Primary auction of promises event, which raised almost £6,000 towards the new computer suite.

The friends group raised £5,832.12 from the event, which was held in the village hall and attracted around 200 people. Steve Prouse of Kivells was auctioneer.

Mr Jones thanked Gail Shinn, Launa Crimmins, Wendy Richards, Sue Issac and all the other friends who helped organise the event. He also thanked all the parents, villagers and local businesses who offered goods and services that went under the hammer.