A NEW behavioural policy, extensions to the curriculum and improvements in leadership are some of the positive moves to be made at Okehampton Primary School which the headteacher is confident will come out of special measures next year.

The largest primary school in Devon was placed in special measures in 2009 after Ofsted inspectors found the overall effectiveness of the 580-pupil school, its achievements and its leadership to be inadequate.

But headteacher Hazel Fox, who has been at Okehampton for a year, said that following the latest monitoring report from Ofsted, which described the school as making satisfactory progress, she was really pleased with the way things were going.

'It's quite a landmark that there is now sufficient trust in our leadership for us to take on newly qualified teachers. We have just appointed two new assistant heads, Chris Luxford and Sally Watts, who have joined us from Poole and London, we have a much more exciting curriculum, a behavioural policy where children are rewarded for good behaviour and we are strengthening community links.'

Mrs Fox said the support from Devon Council Council was being cut back because the school was now recognised as having the capacity to help itself but she was in no hurry to come out of special measures early. The designation usually lasts for 18 months to two years, and in Okehampton's case the period ends in September 2011.

'I want the school to improve and I am really confident it will come out of special measures when the time is right,' she said. 'This is a big school and I am not anticipating it coming out early. It happens in smaller schools when one or two changes of teacher is half the battle but it is different in a large school like this.'

Mrs Fox said that being in special measures was not all about improving literacy and numeracy but also about widening the learning experiences of children. The school had been involved in Fairtrade, had a ramp race where they built their own cars and raced them and four pupils were going to Germany in the next couple of weeks.

A community consultation on how the curriculum could be improved was also a great hit with parents.

Ofsted inspectors said that the school now had sufficient tracking data to show that progress for pupils in the current Year 6 was accelerating, making up for previous under-achievement, so in 2011 attainment was likely to be better, particularly in mathematics.

Progress in other groups was also improving, especially in writing, largely as a result of better teaching and monitoring, although progress was slower last year for the current Year 5, inspectors said.

The report said the recently appointed special needs co-ordinator had had an effect and teachers' planning was generally sound. Teachers were increasing in self-confidence and willing to take risks.

But inspectors described the pace of learning in year groups other than Year 6 as sometimes slow — this was because the teachers' expectations of work output were not high enough and the atmosphere was not sufficiently industrious, they said.

The next monitoring visit by Ofsted will be early next year.