A PRIMARY school near York is celebrating a 'Good' report from Ofsted, which praised its teaching methods and the staff’s "caring and positive" relationships with pupils.

Melbourne Primary School, a member of the Wonder Learning Partnership (WLP) is "delighted" with the report. The inspection report highlights the staff’s pride at working at the school, the high expectations they have for their pupils and the care and support offered to those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Kelly Foxton was headteacher at Melbourne at the time of the Ofsted inspection - and is currently the head at Pocklington Junior School, also a member of WLP.

She said: “I was incredibly fortunate to have a talented, dedicated and hard-working team who were committed to doing their very best for the pupils.

"Following the difficulties of pandemic the staff worked tirelessly to focus on addressing lost learning whilst ensuring the pupils had access to an ambitious and exciting curriculum – both inside and outside the classroom.”

During the inspection, the inspectors noted how well mathematics and reading were taught in the school. In maths, inspectors reported how pupils have frequent opportunities to develop their problem-solving skills, how well they concentrate in lessons and how carefully they listen to their teachers. In reading, inspectors commented that children receive an "excellent" start to reading and have "ample opportunities" to read.

This coincides with news that the school has moved up to the top five per cent in the country for its 2022 SATs results.

Kelly, who worked closely with her entire teaching team, credits the report to the hard work of her staff and the significant changes they made alongside the trust.

Kelly said they looked at every aspect of how reading is taught and learnt and put several systems in place. This included moving away from the traditional carousel approach, introducing a new phonics system, using high quality texts, providing interventions for those falling behind their peers and linking reading material to other areas of the curriculum.

They also started using WLP’s Reader Programme, designed to set children’s ability at the right level to help them progress.

Kell added: “For me, reading is the key to learning and to fully accessing all areas of the curriculum.

“If you can teach it well, right from the start, the children will benefit in so many ways. We worked hard as a team and the new system has paid dividends.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Britton, WLP CEO, said the staff at Melbourne Primary School have done "superbly well".

He said: "The approach to the teaching of reading has ensured our children have made exceptional progress, with results that put the school in the top five per cent nationally.

"All our children across the trust can now benefit from this innovative work. Ofsted’s very positive response recognises the hard work of our children, colleagues and parents.”