Achieving well at St Andrew's

A village primary has been praised as a good school in which pupils achieve well.

Government inspectors found that pupils at all levels at St Andrews Primary School at North Lopham, achieve well at each stage of the school.

They found the leadership and management of the assistant headteacher, Judith Jones, to be outstanding and said that excellent academic guidance and the setting of challenging targets for each individual promote good achievement.

The Ofsted report states: “St Andrew's is a good school is which pupils achieve well. The extent to which pupils grow in their personal development is outstanding, as a result of the exceptionally high level of care, support and guidance they receive.

“Pupils at all levels achieve well at the school…By the end of Reception, children achieve the nationally expected goals and many exceed them, particularly in communication, language and literacy and in their personal, social and emotional development.

“Pupils continue to achieve well throughout Key Stages 1 and 2. By the end of Year 2, attainment in reading is particularly high, above average in writing but broadly average in mathematics. Standards in English and Science are consistently above average at the end of Year 6.”

The Ofsted report said that pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding, and that the school is led and managed well. Inspectors were impressed with the high standards of music, sport and art said the behaviour of the children is excellent.

The school's acting headteacher Richard Ogilvie said: “This is thoroughly well-deserved and reflects the hard work and talent that everybody involved with the school - staff, children, parents, governors and our friends in the local community - have put in since the last inspection.

“Our assistant headteacher Mrs Judith Jones has been a key figure in the school's success, as was my immediate predecessor as headteacher, Mrs Penny Sheppard.”