A FENLAND primary school which was told it “required improvement” earlier this year is said to be making good progress.

New Road Primary School, Whittlesey, was criticised in an OfSted inspection in March for the standard of its teaching in Years 1-4, its underuse of teaching assistants and inability to inspire pupils.

But the school was praised for tackling these issues after a monitoring inspection from Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools (HMI) on July 8.

Inspector Dilip Kadodwala said: “The school is showing determination to raise standards and improve pupils’ achievement so that these are at least good.

“In all discussions, the emphasis on improving teaching and raising achievement came through strongly. To improve teaching, especially.

“My discussions with pupils show that they are clear about learning objectives and staff pitch work at the right level of difficulty for them.

“You are strengthening the curriculum so that pupils are finding learning more interesting, for example by linking topics to visits to local places. Pupils’ own suggestions for topics in the autumn term are being considered to help make learning livelier.

“Your tracking of pupils’ progress is strong. It currently indicates that pupils in Year 6 have made at least expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The predictions are that many more of them will also make better than expected progress.”

The results of the monitoring inspection came as headteacher Margaret Leverett revealed the school’s Key Stage 2 assessments were the best they had been for a number of years, with 91 per cent of pupils achieving level 4 in both reading and mathematics.

Mrs Leverett said: “We are very pleased the HMI report recognises the hard work that has been put in since the section 4 inspection. We remain determined to continue this progress.

“The excellent results from the Key Stage 2 assessments show that we are moving in the right direction.”