A PRIMARY school on the outskirts of York is celebrating its latest Ofsted success.

Forest of Galtres School, in Shipton-by-Beningbrough, has been judged as ‘good’ after a short inspection. This was their first inspection since they were last graded in 2013, when they also received a good rating.

The school takes pupils from the Shipton, Overton, Newton-on-Ouse and Tollerton area and further afield, with places for children aged from two years in its recently-established nursery provision.

It joined Hope Learning Trust, York, in December 2016, and is recognised in the report for maintaining “the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.” Inspector, Alison Aitchison, praised the work of head teacher, Allyson Buckton and her team, stating that they “have established a vibrant and inclusive environment in which pupils feel valued and safe.”

The school has five values: creativity, collaboration, courage, care and Christian faith, which underpin all aspects of school life and the importance of these values is recognised in the report: “One pupil summarised the importance of these values by commenting: ‘They are values to live by. They help us in our learning, in our friendships and they are preparing us for secondary school.’”

The inspector also praised the positive relationship with parents, many of whom reported “the strong sense of community and the good progress that their children make academically” and the way in which the school has “dealt effectively with the areas for development identified” during the last inspection.

Mrs Buckton, said “We’re all absolutely thrilled with the outcome of the inspection. I am very lucky to have such a strong team of staff who are all proud to work at this school. It’s wonderful that the report recognises the importance of our values, the quality of our teaching and the importance we place on professional development for our staff.”

Chief Executive Officer of the Hope Learning Trust, Brian Crosby said “This is wonderful news for the team at Forest of Galtres. Since the school joined Hope, it has been a delight to see them engaging fully in partnership working with colleagues across the Trust. They embody the Trust’s shared vision to provide the best education and support for pupils, so that they can thrive.”

The report also identified a few areas which the school needs to keep working on, including: embedding approaches to mathematics and writing, so that the proportion of pupils attaining the higher standards by the end of key stage 2 increases; providing opportunities to help pupils improve their spelling and support them to reach the higher standards; and ensuring pupils’ presentation and accuracy of writing are of the highest quality to further improve fluency of written work.

Hope Learning Trust, is a York-based Church of England multi-academy trust, which was initially founded by Manor CE Academy and Poppleton Ouesbank Primary. It now includes nine schools: Manor CE Academy, Vale of York Academy, Barlby High School, Poppleton Ouesbank, Burton Green Primary, Forest of Galtres Anglican Methodist Primary, Baldersby St James and Scarborough secondary schools, George Pindar and Graham Schools which joined the Trust on 1 March.