Silverton Primary praised as outstanding for pupil behaviour

Pupils at a Devon village school are achieving above national standards as a result of good teaching, interesting lessons and their extremely positive attitudes to learning.

Following a two-day inspection last month, education inspectors say Silverton C of E Primary is a good school with outstanding features. Silverton was previously rated good in 2007 but since then the school standards agency, Ofsted, has twice increased the rigour of its inspection regime. 

They conclude: “Pupils of all abilities and backgrounds do well. Teaching is good throughout the school and, as a result, pupils make better than expected progress in reading, writing and maths. Teaching assistants play an important role in supporting all pupils’ understanding.”

Lead inspector Hazel Callaghan says pupils start school with a range of knowledge and skills in line with that expected for their age. But because of the good teaching and learning they are attaining above average standards by Year 6.

“There is a wide range of interesting lessons that motivate the pupils to learn,” she says.

“They enjoy their activities and want to do well. Their extremely positive attitudes ensure lessons run smoothly and learning progresses well.”

There is praise for headteacher Heath Nickels and the governing body. Ms Callaghan says they have high expectations for the school and the staff all work together as a strong team.

“Together they have been successful in improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning,” she says.

“This focus on looking for ways to improve further is seen throughout the school.”

To do this, the school should further raise attainment in maths so it equals the high standards already set in reading and writing and develop the skills of middle leaders so they can play a bigger role in monitoring and developing their subjects.

Headteacher Heath Nickels said today: “We are delighted we have been praised as a ‘good’ school again with outstanding features.

"The change in the Ofsted criteria makes gaining a ‘good’ more rigorous than in previous inspections and demonstrates that the school has continued to improve since the last inspection. Our school has maintained consistently high standards and expectations which has led to this very positive report.

“The governors would like to thank the staff for their hard work and professionalism, the children, who were a credit to the school, and all the parents for their continued support.”

Mr Nickels said the school had already embarked on a programme to develop maths throughout the school before the inspectors arrived and they agreed this was a key priority for improvement.