A Colne primary school has ended the academic year on a high - by being bumped up a grade in its latest Ofsted report.
Lord Street Primary School has gone from “requiring improvement” to “good” after being visited by inspectors in July.
The school was praised by the inspection team, Robert Birtwell, Gillian Burrow and Katharie Halifax, for its teaching and pupils’ behaviour.
And the progress of pupils, the quality of school leaders, and pupils’ spiritual, moral, socal and cultural development, also helped the establishment achieve a “good” rating in all areas.
Responding to the news, chair of governors Michael Speak thanked everybody, including staff and the governing body, for pulling together to implement change.
He said: “It has been an excellent year for the school, and we have been very impressed as a governing body.
“It has been a team effort, and the new headteacher [Duncan Hetherington] has done an awful lot of work.
“Staff morale is very very high, and nobody is going to rest on their laurels. Good is only the start.”
The Ofsted report states: “Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to do well. They are polite and considerate and there are good relationships between pupils and adults in the school.
“Pupils take pride in their work and behave well in lessons so that learning typically proceeds smoothly and without interruption.
“The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection. It is now typically good across the school.”
Headteacher Mr Hetherington was also said to be providing purposeful and effective leadership since starting at the school in September 2013.
The report added: “He [Mr Hetherington] has raised expectations and given the school clear direction. He has been well supported by the senior leadership team, middle leaders and governors.”
To improve further the school must now:
l Ensure expectations of what pupils can achieve are always high enough
l Make sure work set is always hard enough so that pupils are consistently challenged to make the best possible progress
l Always check that pupils respond to advice about what they need to do to improve the quality of their work
l Work to create more opportunities for teachers to observe outstanding teaching in other schools in order to strengthen the impact of their teaching on pupils’ learning and progress
