MEAVY Church of England Primary School has gained an Investors in People Award in recognition of its commitment to the development of its staff — providing them with the training needed to challenge pupils to reach their academic potential.

Headteacher Mary WIlliamson said the school was 'delighted' to be recognised with the award, and the entire programme had been very useful.

She said: 'As a small school we were already doing a lot of the things needed to develop staff, but we weren't too hot on the paperwork side of things.

'Investors in People has really helped us by developing a proper induction programme for all staff and formalising communications across the school.'

Meavy School has 96 pupils and 17 members of staff and is divided into four classes.

A spokesperson for the Learning and Skills Council Devon and Cornwall, which supports the award, said the benefit of the training received by the staff was measured in the increased confidence of teachers and the improving results of their pupils.

She said: 'Non-fiction writing among Key Stage 2 pupils is now both better organised and planned and fiction writing involves more sophisticated plots and more complex sentence structures.'

There had also been improvements at Key Stage 1.

Investors in People assessor Kevin Philips said: 'The caring, family atmosphere is enjoyed by all staff, many of whom like how nice it is to work in such a wonderful school. Everyone is enthusiastic and dedicated in their roles and this makes for an exceptional school.'