Staff and pupils at Burwell Village College Primary School are celebrating after Ofsted inspectors declared it good in every category, after six years in which it was judged as requiring improvement.
The inspectors described pupils as respectful, considerate and polite. Their behaviour was ‘a strength of the school’ and they maintained their positive behaviours during playtimes and lunchtimes, said the report.
Headteacher Antony Kern said: “Being the only school in the area identified as requiring improvement for such a long period of time has been very difficult for staff and parents particularly.
“Knowing that improvements in the school have been so substantial, however, has given us the confidence that the right focus and drive was in place and we would ensure that the children of Burwell had a school in which they could be justly proud.
“We are really proud of our ‘good’ school. We have come a long way since the inspection in 2018 and this is down to the hard work and dedication of the staff and children and support of our parents.
“We have focused on the opportunities that we give children right across the curriculum from high-quality reading as demonstrated by our Burwell Bookshelf, to studying disco music, to social enterprise through our ‘Brighten up Burwell’ community project.
“It has been a long and sometimes difficult development but we are now a very good school with the opportunity to be even better in the near future,” added Mr Kern.
“The inspectors said caring staff built strong, positive and supportive relationships with pupils and the school was ambitious for all pupils including those with special education needs or disabilities.
Inspectors said: “Since the previous inspection, the school has successfully improved the quality of education. Pupils, including those with special needs, now benefit from a well-designed and carefully considered curriculum in all areas. The curriculum is relevant and interesting and plans set out the most important knowledge pupils need to learn.”
To build on the school’s success, the inspectors’ report said it should continue to review how the curriculum was arranged to ensure that pupils could apply what they already knew to their future learning which was not routinely the case at present.
