STAFF and pupils at a Southampton primary school are celebrating taking a big step forward after being rated ‘good’ with ‘outstanding’ features by inspectors.

Ofsted has upgraded Swaythling Primary School from “requires improvement” to “good” following an inspection in July.

The inspection team even went as far as describing pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare as ‘outstanding’.

The report also praises the quality of teaching and learning and the effectiveness of leadership and management at the Mayfield Road school.

Thrilled head teacher John Draper said: “I am delighted that the positive character of our school has been recognised in this way.

“We have had to build a new school since the last inspection. I could not imagine or ask for a finer team of people than the staff we have at Swaythling. Everyone who works here now shares out vision, commitment and drive to do everything we can to secure the best possible outcomes for every child in our care.”

Ofsted said the quality of teaching was now good across the school and there were times when some teaching was ‘outstanding’.

It added that improvements in the quality of teaching had been brought about by the concerted efforts of the head teacher and deputy head teacher to raise expectations of teachers and hold them to account.

Pupils with special educational needs or disabilities made strong progress because of the knowledge of the leader for special educational needs who identified their needs accurately and intervened swiftly to put in place support that meant pupils could catch up quickly, the report states.

Mathematics was also picked out as an area in which pupils were performing well.

Inspectors also highlighted the strong ethos of the school that “creates a calm, purposeful but welcoming atmosphere centred on learning”.

They added: “The school’s motto, Be Thoughtful, permeates the actions of pupils and adults and ensures that pupils feel very safe at school and listened to by adults.

“Pupils have highly positive attitudes to learning. They are proud of their learning and their school. They are extremely polite and well mannered and behave exceptionally well.”

Governors were also commended for knowing the school well and making much more constructive links between the quality of teaching and the progress pupils achieve.

Issues facing the school, which describes itself as a village school at the heart of a thriving city, were that teaching in the early years and Key Stage 1 did too little to encourage children to reason, question and explore to deepen their understanding.

In addition, pupils’ appreciation of fiction books was not yet developed in the same way as their love of information books, and the school’s improvement plans did not easily identify the measures for success which governors and other leaders could monitor.

FACT FILE

  • Swaythling Primary School, Mayfield Road, Southampton
  • Number of pupils: 207
  • Age range: 4-11
  • Gender: mixed
  • Average class size: 30
  • Head teacher: John Draper
  • Chairman of governors: Nick Gibbins
  • Date of inspection: July 7-8