STAFF at a Swindon primary school told to improve by Ofsted inspectors are delighted with its latest report.

Lainesmead Primary School is now rated Good overall by the education watchdog and Outstanding in terms of behaviour and attitudes and personal development

That represents quite a jump from its Requires Improvement assessment four years earlier in May 2018.

Headteacher Mrs Eirian Painter, who has been with the school since September 2015, said: "Receiving the Ofsted grading of Good overall with two areas of Outstanding practice is testament to the hard work and dedication of each and every member of staff since our last inspection and through the pandemic."

Some of the changes focused on the curriculum, which was highly criticised by inspectors previously. Maths lessons, in particular, were said to be inconsistent and that pupils across the school made inconsistent progress.

This maths curriculum has now been reformed to better suit all types of learners.

"For the maths lessons, we now do a mix of teacher and student-led learning, where students get to learn from a teacher, but also in group activities," said Mrs Painter.

Staff have also worked on its response to emotional outbursts from children, teaching them that it is okay to get help when needed.

Low staff and student attendance over the past couple of years due to the pandemic made introducing the changes a challenge, staff said.

Deputy headteacher Mrs Alyssia Mepstead said she and her Lainesmead colleagues hoped to be given q Good report, but the two Outstanding areas were a big surprise.

Mrs Mepstead said: "I don't even think I'd looked at the Outstanding criteria before as we were so focused on getting Good overall."

Talking about the changed curriculum, Mrs Mepstead said staff have become more focused on reading and that the children were excited about this change.

The school is also turning an old bus into a library - which will be ready by the beginning of September - with the hope this will make pupils more interested in reading.

"We genuinely love the children, and I think that has paid a huge part as well," Mrs Mepstead said.

"We just love them and want to do what's best for them."