Ofsted praise for Little Common

Little Common primary school has received a positive Ofsted report which highlights its strengths and areas of achievement, and head teacher David Pratt says he is "delighted".

Inspector David Collard gave a grade 2 rating to the overall effectiveness of the school following his visit in March and said: "The commitment, drive and enthusiasm of the head teacher and the school's self-evaluation are real strengths.

"The pupils are delightful".

The school achieved a "good" rating over a wide range of criteria such as the effectiveness of the Foundation Stage and was judged outstanding in its capacity to make necessary improvements.

In the achievements and standards section, Mr Collard gave a grade 2 rating to the standards reached by learners and how well they make progress, while personal development and well-being was also judged to be good, with an outstanding rating given to how well learners enjoy their education and their behaviour.

Quality of provision was given a grade 2 rating also, as was leadership and management, with the effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation singled out as exceptional.

The inspector said: "Good teaching and an extensive curriculum have been at the heart of pupils' progress. This produces a calm, orderly school where lessons are interesting, stimulating and move at a good pace.

"The highly experienced head teacher has built an effective senior team even though difficulties with staff changes have meant some restructuring. Day-to-day management is extremely strong, producing a school that runs like 'a well-oiled machine'.

"The school has continued to improve significantly and innovate from a strong position at the time of the last inspection.

"All this provides ample proof of its excellent capability to improve further in the future."

David Pratt this week commented: "We are delighted with our report and feel very proud of the comments that he made, especially about the children. We see it as giving us a good platform for taking the school forward."