Paulton Infant School had its Ofsted inspection on 16th June and has been judged a ‘Good’ school.

Her Majesty’s Inspector, Lorna Brackstone, commented that since the last inspection in 2011, there had been “substantial improvements to the early years environment and this has accelerated the progress that children make”. She noted that children “confidently access a wide range of interesting resources which stimulate their thinking, develop their key skills and support learning.”

She recognised how teaching is tailored to meet specific needs of children and that “those who require extra challenge or help are supported by teaching assistants. This has had a strong impact on accelerating progress.”

Importantly, her report said that “pupils enjoy their learning and fully involve themselves in tier tasks, and classrooms have a positive buzz … all pupils including those who are disadvantaged, have made good progress … The most able pupils show a high level of engagement in the topics they are learning about.”

Since the appointment of Julie Hogan as Headteacher in January 2015, there has been lots of work to improve play opportunities, noted by HMI who commented that “by making effective use of outdoor learning areas … you and your team have made a significant impact on their improving skills.”

Mrs Hogan says: “We are all incredibly proud as since the last time the school was inspected, there have been many changes to the Ofsted Inspection Framework which now has even higher expectations before a school is graded Good or

better. We will now, of course, be working on our next steps to reach ‘Outstanding’.”

Garry Yoxall, Chair of Governors, said: “The school has a fantastic history of delivering good outcomes reflecting in four previous assessments as ‘Good’ during more stable periods against less rigorous assessment criteria. Following recent changes, I am delighted with the report which confirms my belief that the school has never been better positioned to achieve ‘Outstanding’ status.”