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Freshwaters Primary Academy is a Good school, Ofsted has confirmed.

Inspectors paid their first visit to the school in March since it was judged to be Good in April 2015.

In a letter to executive headteacher Sophie Laing, Her Majesty’s inspector Cindy Impey confirmed the school continues to be Good.

She said: “The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection.

“Pupils are happy, sociable and enthusiastic learners. Adults too are enthusiastic and are proud to work at the school. Pupils are polite and respectful to adults and visitors. This is because adults serve as good role models and develop strong, positive relationships with pupils.

“The school community’s deeply held values are apparent in many aspects of its work. Displays in classrooms and corridors remind pupils they can be what they want to be and to never give up. Pupils behave well in and out of lessons and develop into resilient, reflective and aspirational individuals, as evidenced in their ambitions to become architects, accountants and engineers, among other worthy occupations.”

The school was also praised for –

· its improvements since the last inspection, including a restructure of the nursery curriculum.

· a clear consistency in expectation of teaching and learning in reading, writing and maths

· being highly committed to getting the right support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and training for staff

· effective strategies to support vulnerable pupils to manage their behaviour

The school has increased in size since its last inspection, from a one-form entry with 326 pupils, to a two-form entry with 427 pupils.

The inspector also recognised that while the school has seen some changes in leadership and teaching staff in recent years, Mrs Laing and BMAT “have successfully maintained the good standard of education and good progress achieved at the end of Key Stage 2, particularly in reading and mathematics”.

Mrs Laing said: “Freshwaters has faced some significant challenges since its last inspection. Similar to other schools in the country, year on year recruitment and retention has been a specific challenge.

“We warmly welcomed our inspection and were pleased to be able to share our journey, progress and achievements to date.

“Maintaining our Good grading is testament to the relentless hard work and dedication of the incredible team at Freshwaters, in a very challenging time for education.”

The school will welcome a new headteacher on June 3. Jackie Diggle will join from fellow BMAT school Little Parndon Primary Academy where she is co-head of school.

She said: “The recent Ofsted report shows the hard work and progress the team at Freshwaters have already made.

“I am really looking forward to joining the Freshwaters team on this exciting journey. We have already started working on the targets set out by the Ofsted report to build on our future plans.”