Village school 'outstanding' (From Witney Gazette)

Village school 'outstanding'

6:22am Friday 25th January 2008 in Witney By David Horne

A VILLAGE school has been judged "outstanding", with friendly children who have excellent behaviour.

St Peter's CoE Infants School in Alvescot, was given top grades in 26 categories covering its overall effectiveness, achievements, personal development, quality of teaching and management.

Only in attendance did it get a grade two, which is still good, in its latest report by Ofsted Rob Crompton.

Mr Crompton said in a letter to all 53 pupils: "I was very impressed indeed by your excellent behaviour and your friendliness. It is an excellent school.

"Your parents think this is an outstanding school and they are right.

"As well as exciting lessons, you have lots of clubs, activities and trips that help you learn other things that make your education even more exciting."

The village school caters for four- to seven-year-olds from Alvescot and nearby villages - including many from RAF families based at nearby Brize Norton.

As well as headteacher Sam King, it has two full-time and one part-time teacher, with four teaching assistants.

Ms King said: "I've been looking through other Ofsted reports on their website and, while many are outstanding overall, I haven't seen any with outstanding grades in everything.

"Our attendance could also have been outstanding if some of our young ones hadn't had the illnesses they get at that age.

"We are understandably very proud of ourselves and it is due to a lot of hard work by the staff and governors and a large amount of support from parents and the local community."

Ms King's leadership was described as "excellent" and all teachers were praised for monitoring and observing the progress of each child.

The only areas where the school could improve were: Develop more links between subjects to enhance the relevance of the children's learning Refine systems to ensure continuity when staff leave.

A full copy of the school's report can be downloaded from the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports