YORKLEY School is celebrating an inspection report which says it is outstanding in key areas.

Inspectors said pupils were proud of their school “and it is easy to see why”.

The report by Ofsted said that behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management were all outstanding.

The overall grading was “good”. the same as the previous report on the school

The inspectors said: “It is a caring, cohesive community where everyone has pupils’ best interests at heart.

“Everyone strives to make every day the best it can be for each pupil.

“Pupils behave beautifully. They like the rewards that come with behaving well and see little point in behaving badly. They are eager to make the most out of all that the school has to offer.

“Pupils play an active role in shaping school life. Well-being champions ensure that playtimes are happy times.

“Older pupils organise clubs for other pupils to join. The school council gets involved in decisions about how the school is run.

“Pupils achieve well in this positive climate. “

Even so, leaders are not complacent.

“They strive to make the curriculum as good as it can be. They want pupils to have the best education possible, and are well on the way to achieving this goal.”

The school is “exceptionally well led and managed” and “staff feel privileged to work here.”

“Pupils’ behaviour contributes much to how well they achieve. They pay attention and work very hard. Beyond that, they listen to, and learn from, one another. They treat each other with a tangible degree of respect.”

Headteacher Kate Burke, said the report reflects the hard-work, dedication and commitment of all the staff, children and governors.

She said: “We are so pleased that the strengths of the school, especially the care of our children and quality of education in key areas such as reading, maths, science and PE have been acknowledged.

“The report identified one area of development – this was to make further refinements to the curriculum so all our subjects lead to exceptional achievement – which we are already working towards.”

The school provides exceptionally well for pupils’ personal development, say inspectors.

“There are wide-ranging opportunities to learn a new skill, to be active, to take part in a competition or to take on responsibility.

“Leaders use the drivers to determine what might be missing from the options. Then, they set up what is needed to fill the gap. Individual pupils’ needs inform these decisions.

“For example, the well-being champions are the result of leaders getting to the heart of a falling-out between pupils.

By putting pupils’ needs at the heart of their experience, the school provides well for all.

“Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities thrive in this climate.

“Disadvantaged pupils are helped to reach their full potential, as are their classmates.”

The curriculum was praised for ensuring that pupils learn, step by step, what they need in each subject.

“This starts in the Reception Class. Leaders make sure that staff know what pupils need to learn at each stage and how best to teach it.

“Teachers carefully choose the right approaches to teach each part of the curriculum.

“As they go along, they check that pupils have learned what they need to be ready for the next step.

“Where necessary, teachers go over something again or give more time to it.

“As a result, pupils are learning what leaders intend they should.

“Leaders have invested much time and money into ensuring that every pupil learns to read well.

“A ‘reading squad’ of highly-trained teachers and teaching assistants delivers a systematic programme of phonics teaching from the moment children enter school.

“Pupils learn new sounds and practise reading daily.

“This helps them learn to read fluently and independently. Anyone who falls behind receives high-quality support to keep up with the programme.

Mrs Burke said that due to its popularity, the school has added another class this year

Senior staff at Yorkley are also working alongside colleagues at Parkend Primary School to help develop this model to the benefit of all local children and knowledge and experience is being shared with other local schools.