A WEST Devon school is this week celebrating an excellent Ofsted report, in which its headteacher is singled out for praise. St Rumon's Infants School in Tavistock, which has 78 children on its roll, was rated as 'good' in every section of the report by Ofsted inspectors, who visited the school last month. And headteacher Clare Wesson, who has been at the school for 18 months, was regarded as providing 'outstanding' leadership, bringing about rapid improvements in standards in a short period. The inspectors said: 'She has clarity of vision and has united the school with a common sense of purpose. By building teamwork, she has promoted a shared approach to leadership and management and secured the full support of parents, who note how well the school provides the care and advice each child needs.' Inspectors said Mrs Wesson was 'well supported by a committed staff team and effective governing body'. The report stated: 'The headteacher has developed a culture of shared learning among staff, who coach and mentor each other as teachers. She has led the team in developing effective processes for monitoring children's progress. 'As a result, although children start school with below average standards, they achieve well and reach at least average standards by the time they leave.' The inspectors found the children's personal development and attitudes to learning were good, they behaved well and took a keen part in wider school life and in activities in the community. Teaching and learning was found to be good across the school. In reception years, learning was 'highly exploratory and multi-sensory' while in Years 1 and 2, engaging strategies made learning practical and fun. The effective contribution of teaching assistants helped create a good relationship between adults and children — one lesson was marked by inspectors to be outstanding. The curriculum at the school was judged to be broad and balanced with themed work making learning relevant. The governing body had improved markedly since the last inspection in 2000, held a good committee structure and held the school to account well. The inspectors did find some room for improvement, however. They recommended the school refine its plans to ensure children of all abilities made the best possible progress and make it explicit to children what they needed to achieve in their learning. Headteacher Clare Wesson said: 'Our whole school community is very pleased with the inspection report and we are really looking forward to the next phase in the life of the school. 'We have lots of plans to make the school even better and I have to pay great credit to my staff, the parents and the well-behaved children at St Rumon's. Chairman of governors James McQueen was delighted with the report. 'It is a true reflection of community life at its best, with staff, parents, children and governors working effectively together,' he said.
