An Earby primary school has double cause to celebrate with the completion of a new playground and an Ofsted report rating it as “good”.
Earby Springfield Primary School was visited by inspectors in May and this year’s report highlights a sharp improvement from the previous report which put the school at “satisfactory”.
Children at the school are also enjoying the new play area which has been constructed courtesy of a £9,985 grant from the Big Lottery Fund.
In the Ofsted report, the Bailey Street school’s pupils were seen to be achieving well, making good progress from their starting points under teaching which is “good and sometimes outstanding”.
“Staff have high expectations and do all they can to support pupils”, the report states, with plenty of opportunities to take part in out-of-school activities, especially in sport, with the above-average attendance reflecting pupils’ enjoyment of school.
Pupils are said to behave well and the report found the school’s headteacher “leads and manages the school extremely well” and together with the senior leaders has “successfully improved the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement”.
The inspector also stated governors are “well-informed and both supportive and challenging to school leaders”.
However, the report states the school is not yet outstanding as teaching “does not yet result in pupils making outstanding progress” and work set in maths is not always at the right level of difficulty and slows progress.
Other aspects highlighted by the inspector were basic spelling mistakes in work, work not set out well and missed opportunities to gather information about the progress of different groups of pupils when staff observe lessons.
Headteacher Dawn Liversidge said: “I’d firstly like to thank my colleagues, the governors, parents and the children whose hard work and commitment have led to the transformation of our school.
“And, while we’re not in any way complacent, the school has made massive strides.
“For instance, we’ve done a lot of work on improving the quality of teaching. Ofsted commended us on the good quality relations between the teachers and pupils.
“The inspectors also complemented us on the work we do with children in the Reception class. I was also pleased the report highlighted our commitment to equal opportunities.
“Despite all the praise for the school, we won’t be resting on our laurels. We’re ambitious here and will be continuing to strive to provide the children with the highest quality of education.”