OKEHAMPTON Primary's latest Ofsted monitoring report praised the school, saying pupils are receiving a good education because there has been very rapid improvement in nearly all aspects of its work.

The school was placed under 'special measures' in 2009 following a report that it had not taken effective steps to promote improvement. The new report shows how the school has found a way through its problems and is now providing a good level of education. As a result, the school has been removed from special measures early, only having five monitoring reports instead of the standard six.

Levels of attainment in writing, leadership and management and improvement in pupils across the whole school impressed the inspector Mary Massey: 'The assessment information shows that in all year groups the rate of progress is accelerating and, as a result, attainment is rising.

'Over the last year, a whole-school focus on developing writing skills has had a very positive impact on pupils' achievement. A new creative, themed curriculum which gives exciting opportunities for writing generates interest and motivation.

'The large majority of teaching is now good and some is outstanding. Not only is the quality of written work improving rapidly, but also pupils talk about how much they are enjoying what they are doing and the sense of achievement they are gaining.'

Inspector Massey's report praised the work of headteacher Hazel Fox and her team: 'Although the pace and depth of change has been very fast, she has created a culture where staff morale is very high because all staff feel accountable and supported so that they are fully committed and very ambitious to improve.'

The headteacher pointed out that the community had played a big role in the school's recent successes: 'I'm so proud of the whole community's sheer determination to get on and do their very best for the children really, because it's the children that really matter and we want to make sure that we're doing the very best job for them. That has created a drive and energy that has carried us forward, with the support of the whole community.

'There's lots of different local businesses and charities and organisations that have supported us, so the community's been fantastic.

'The biggest thing is the standards in writing, it's really coming on. The progress is really good and our reading is above national average. The school is good academically now. The school's always been good at connecting with the community, but the academic stuff is of a high standard too. We have very able pupils.'

To continue improvement, the school was told to ensure achievement in writing and mathematics continues to rise, and to 'share the good and outstanding practice in the school to ensure consistency between teachers and good achievement for individual pupils.'