The head teacher of a school in Sarisbury Green said he was delighted with a recent Ofsted inspection report despite a drop from its status from outstanding to good.
Sarisbury Junior School
Andy Stockton said the children, staff, governors and parents had worked hard and it had been a successful year for Sarisbury Church of England Junior School.
The school was praised for maintaining high standards in reading, writing and mathematics, that staff have excellent relationships with the pupils encouraging them with clear classroom instructions and make learning interesting and enjoyable by using real-world applications of learning.
The report noted the behaviour and safety of pupils as “outstanding” and “exemplary” and that they “respect each other, teachers and visitors to the school and are taught how to look after themselves and stay safe”.
Plans have been put in place at the school in Allotment Road to ensure pupils’ progress is improved after Ofsted inspector Mehar Brar published the report, which stated: “The quality of teaching is not consistently of the highest quality for which the school is striving. As a result, not enough pupils make the progress of which they are capable.”
Mr Stockton said: “Children have to show rates of progress that are really challenging for schools under new frameworks.
“The standard has been raised considerably. The expectations are harder to reach.
“We’ve got plans in place particularly with reference to pupil progress. Already this year looks stronger and next year stronger still.
“Under the new framework the next time the school will be inspected, which will be in 2016, the school will be, as it is now in the eyes of parents, back to outstanding.
“It’s important to say that the school is delighted with the feedback from Ofsted, particularly about its sense of community. There were so many aspects that were stronger than good and highlighted as real strengths.”
He thanked parents for positive feedback during the two-day inspection in June and expressed his gratitude to staff.