MAJOR improvements in exam results and the quality of teaching at a Tavistock junior school were highlighted this week in its latest Ofsted inspection.
Inspectors spent four days at St Peter?s Junior School, at Greenlands last December and concluded it had recorded good overall improvement since the last report five years ago.
Inspectors reported that 97 per cent of lessons at the school were satisfactory and almost half were rated as good or very good.
?This represents a notable improvement from the last inspection,? states the report, where teaching was found to be unsatisfactory in one lesson in five.
The school?s results in the national curriculum tests taken by pupils at the age of 11 have also shown a good improvement.
Inspectors say the standards in maths have been consistently above average. However, in English results were lower than expected ? this was attributed to weaknesses in writing, particularly among boys, though the reading result remained high.
The inspectors also highlighted the ?safe, friendly and supportive environment for learning? and said pupils? personal development and quality of relationships was very good.
?An especially large range of learning opportunities is provided for pupils after school hours,? stated the report.
Pupils with special educational needs were making good progress and the school helped pupils gain self-confidence and be well-prepared for secondary school.
The inspectors highlighted a number of areas for improvement. They said the standard of attainment in writing was too low and more pupils should reach the higher standards of level 5 in the national curriculum tests by the end of Year 6.
The report suggested Information and Communication Technology should be more widely used to support learning. Information to parents on their children?s performance also needed to be clearer and targets set for individual pupils to achieve were too imprecise.
Headteacher John George said: ?We are all delighted with the very positive tone of the report which clearly demonstrates the very caring, Christian family ethos.
?It is a good reflection of the hard work and dedication that staff, governors, parents and pupils put into the vibrant life of the school.?
But he added: ?There is no complacency. No matter how well we have done through this inspection we acknowledge that there remain key areas to work on and these are already being addressed.?
Numbers at the 163-pupil school are rising after several years of decline, with some parents from outside St Peter?s catchment area choosing to send their children there.