‘Ambitious’ West Walton school praised

A primary school which “fosters excellence” has been praised for maintaining high standards, while driving forward further improvements.

West Walton Community Primary School has once again been judged as ‘good’ by Ofsted, six years after it first received the grade at its last full inspection.

A report commended headteacher Jillian Davis and senior leaders for being “ambitious” and “instilling high expectations for adults and pupils across the school”.

It also said leaders and governors successfully guided the school through the process of change, when it joined the Windmills Primary Federation with Terrington St John, Walpole Highway and Tilney St Lawrence Primary Schools in 2014. It continued: “Underpinning the determination to foster excellence is an enriching curriculum that caters very well for all groups of pupils. Many exciting opportunities are enjoyed by pupils in sport, music and the arts.”

Inspector Tim Bristow said improvements in the curriculum and teaching had seen a marked impact on pupil outcomes.

Children in early years, Year One and Year Six in particular were meeting and exceeding expectations in some cases, but standards in Year Two have not risen as rapidly.

He also said behaviour was a strength of the school, and that pupils “should be proud of themselves”.

“They are caring and kind to each other and have high expectations of behaviour,” he said. “Staff have worked effectively to achieve this.”