PUPILS at East Wichel Primary School have been smiling with glee this week after celebrating a good Ofsted report.

The education body visited the school back in March for a short inspection and after being wowed by improvements made to learning and staffing, Ofsted wrote a glowing report, congratulating the school on continuing to be good in all areas.

Ofsted Inspector Terry Mortimer said: “The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have successfully steered the school through a significant increase in the number of pupils attending. Your clear, calm and determined leadership ensured that the school’s values and positive atmosphere were maintained throughout this process.

“You deserve much of the credit for ensuring that the school continues to serve its community so effectively.

“You have successfully created a culture in which all pupils are welcomed, cared for and nurtured, both academically and in their personal development.

“Your commitment to fully developing pupils so that they make a positive contribution to their community is shared by your staff team. Consequently, there is a strong team spirit within the staff body.

“Parents value the ethos of the school, which they describe as developing their children’s love of learning and, as I was told, ‘they make children realise what is going on in the world’. The school successfully encourages pupils to hold positive attitudes to life, to learning and towards other people. The school, justifiably, enjoys a very high level of confidence among the parents, who praise the dedication of the teachers and teaching assistants, for example in providing a wide range of activities for pupils, especially after-school clubs.”

East Wichel Primary caters for over 400 pupils who were praised in the report for being “articulate and engaging ambassadors for the school.”

Ofsted say the next steps for the school to achieve an outstanding rating include making sure teachers continue to raise standards in writing and mathematics, especially for middle-attaining and most-able pupils

Headteacher Caroline Henham said she was thrilled by the report.

“We had our last inspection five years ago, which was not long after the school had opened and over that period, we have become a completely different school,” she said. “We are a big school community and I think Ofsted have acknowledged ways we have improved and grown.

“We have been able to introduce lovely facilities especially our outdoor ones and we are really pleased that we are a good school, serving the community of East Wichel with the incredible support of staff.

“Visitors to the school often comment on the warm environment we have and parents see it is very much a nurturing school where the children are happy.

“East Wichel Primary is a brilliant school and when we opened, we were the only community hub at the time so over that time, we have built up a relationship with parents in the area to make them part of the school community by including them in a lot of their children’s learning.”