PUPILS and staff at a West Devon primary are this week celebrating after a glowing report from education inspectors. Lady Modiford?s at Walkhampton received an excellent report from Ofsted, just over a year after being told to make significant improvements. The inspectors found almost every area of school life was good with a number of outstanding features. ?Children are excited by what is on offer. Learning is fun,? said the inspectors in a new report. And a parent summed up the views of the majority by telling inspectors: ?The staff are very approachable. This is a welcoming and happy environment.? Ofsted originally gave the school a Notice to Improve in June 2006, just weeks after new headteacher Gavin Hamilton had taken over. Two inspectors re-visited the school last month. ?It has made very good progress since it was last inspected and is now a good school,? they conclude. ?It is well led and managed by the headteacher and staff. They work well together as a team and are having a very positive impact on pupils? learning. ?Teaching and learning are good and teaching is sometimes outstanding. This is a huge improvement since the last inspection. ?Following staff changes and the reorganisation of classes at the end of the autumn term, provision for children in reception has improved from inadequate to outstanding. ?Achievement is good and standards are well above average by the time pupils leave school. ?This is a marked improvement over the picture reported at the last inspection.? The inspectors said there was a clear vision for the future and a strong commitment to?getting it right?. As well as the big improvement in academic performance, the inspectors said strengths in pupils? personal development and well-being have been built upon. ?Moral and social aspects are now outstanding and the skills which will prepare pupils for future study and life in general have been improved to good. Pupils are polite, friendly and well behaved,? they said. To continue its progress, the school should improve pupils? writing and broaden pupils? learning to ensure all subjects are given appropriate emphasis. A delighted Mr Hamilton said: ?This report reflects the tremendous amount of hard work by all the school team including governors, teaching staff and support staff. ?Our pupils are a credit to us all and we would like to thank those parents who have supported us through such a difficult period of change and rebuilding. ?We are intending to build on the children?s personalised learning, moving towards a thematic, skill based curriculum. ?This way the children have their say in what happens in their classrooms.?
