A NYTHE school has responded to the challenge to make improvements laid down by the education watchdog four months ago.

In November, inspectors visiting Nythe Primary School found it was not up to scratch in its leadership and management, quality of teaching, pupil achievement and early years provision.

The behaviour and safety of pupils were praised at the time, but headteacher Debbie Kalynka (CORR) agreed the initial report was fair and things would improve over time for what was then a new team.

Simon Rowe returned to the Nyland Road school last month and performed a monitoring inspection to assess how it was now performing.

In a letter, he said: “The headteacher, since her arrival, has raised expectations across the school.

“The targets set for pupils’ achievement are more challenging and teachers are clear about their role in ensuring pupils make at least good progress.”

Mr Rowe said staff and governors were taking effective action to put right the failings of last November off the back of his day trip, which involved lesson visits.

He also touched upon the school’s burgeoning relationship with Orchid Vale Primary School, where Mrs Kalynka is also headteacher.

“Teachers observe each other’s teaching, jointly plan lessons, scrutinise pupils’ work and to discuss each pupils’ current working levels,” he said, of the arrangement with Orchid Vale.

“This has raised the confidence of staff; teachers have a far more accurate view of each pupil’s learning.”

He added: “Pupils are more engaged in their learning and they exhibit positive attitudes. Teachers provide more regular feedback to pupils on what they have done well and how they can improve further.

“The school’s development plan identifies the key areas in need of improvement.

“A clear strategy to bring about improvement has been implemented; more rigorous monitoring by leaders, including governors, is in place.”

As a leader of education in Swindon, Mrs Kalynka has helped Nythe and many other schools in the town through tough patches, but plans to hand over the reins to a new head in September.

Sally Clarke, head of St Mary’s Infant School in Witney, will make the move west this autumn.

Mrs Kalynka said: “It’s nice that he was able to come in and validate all of the things we put in place, which shows we are going in the right direction.

"The quality of children’s learning has had big improvements and he was also very complimentary about the mentoring in terms of supporting the teachers to move forwards.”

Further improvements are needed at Nythe however, as it moves forward.

Mr Rowe said: “The school should take further action to strengthen the targets set within the school improvement plan so that leaders can regularly check the progress the school is making towards meeting these.”