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Bishopswood Junior School pupils celebrate their positive Ofsted inspection

A TADLEY school is on the up, according to Ofsted inspectors.

Last year, Bishopswood Junior School, in Barlows Road, was given a Notice to Improve by the Government's education inspectors after they rated the school as unsatisfactory.

However, the notice has now been removed following another inspection, and staff are celebrating the more positive review of their school.

Following the latest inspection, which took place on February 12 and 13, the school was rated grade three "satisfactory" for its overall effectiveness and the quality of its provision. Achievements and standards at the school were also rated grade three.

The school was rated as grade two "good" for personal development and wellbeing, while leadership and management was also rated as "good".

In the report, inspector Simon Hill said: "The school has dealt well with the issue of underachievement identified at the last inspection, and is well-placed to improve further."

The report added: "Teaching is satisfactory and improving. An increasing number of good lessons, pupils' positive attitudes, good systems to help any individual who falls behind, and an interesting curriculum, lead to the good overall progress."

Ann Morrow, headteacher at the school, said: "We are really pleased with the report.

"When I started at the school in 2006, it was a great place to be, but I wanted to raise the standards. Before, the school focused very much on social issues and it was not concentrating enough on the academic side of things.

"We have been working on improving this through the school for a couple of years, but it takes time for it to follow through.

"Last time, the inspectors said they could see improvements, but there was not enough evidence to back it up, as our SATs results were not high enough and some areas still needed work.

"This time they could see achievements were consistent across the school."

Mrs Morrow said new systems, such as marking work so pupils can see how they can do better next time, had helped.

She said: "We were absolutely certain that the notice would be removed, but we were really pleased when it was confirmed."

9:02am Sunday 23rd March 2008

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