A WEST DEVON primary has won the highest possible praise from education inspectors, after being judged outstanding in every area of school life. The inspectors heaped praise on all children at Bere Alston Primary School following the recent Ofsted visit. They concluded: ?Bere Alston is an outstanding school that is exceptionally effective in promoting pupils? high achievement and superb personal development. ?Excellent leadership on behalf of the headteacher, with the strong support of the deputy head and successful teamwork of the staff, ensures pupils? high standards are maintained. ?Their strong commitment to meeting the needs of all pupils results in outstanding pastoral care, guidance and support.? The inspectors judge seven separate areas of school life. These include overall effectiveness, achievement and standards, personal development and well being, teaching and learning, curriculum and other activities, care guidance and support and leadership and management. At Bere Alston they classed all seven as outstanding ? the highest possible grade. The five page report is peppered with ten ?outstandings?, five ?excellents? and six ?exceptionals? - words which Ofsted inspectors seldom use lightly. Headteacher Kim Wild has a strong sense of purpose which is shared by all her staff, says the report. ?This united approach is responsible for the exceptional quality of care and support given to all pupils, their outstanding personal development and the maintenance of exceptionally high standards,? say the inspectors. Children start at Bere Alston with standards below those usually seen in most schools. But, by the time they leave at eleven, their standards are exceptionally high. ?(These) high academic standards are the result of pupils? eagerness to learn, teachers? consistently high expectations and exemplary teaching,? say the inspectors. ?The curriculum in Years 1 to 6 is outstanding and provides an extremely rich and stimulating learning experience. ?Innumerable excellent activities broaden and excite pupils? learning. There are wonderfully varied and very well attended sporting activities and clubs. Many visitors also contribute very positively to the curriculum. ?Pupils behave extremely well. They are friendly and polite and show great care for one another.? The inspectors say the school is well placed to continue improving in the future and to do this it should ensure the continued development of Early Years activities in the Reception Class and into Year 1 and clearer links between assessment in this class and the rest of the school. Headteacher Kim Wild said these were already areas that had been identified for development. A delighted Miss Wild said: ?I would personally like to thank all the teaching and non-teaching staff for their hard work and dedication, the governors for their support and guidance, the children for working hard and having an excellent attitude towards learning and the parents for their support and encouragement in all areas of school life.?
