Staff and pupils at a Lowestoft-area primary school are celebrating after being rated as ‘outstanding’ once more.

Carlton Colville Primary School has maintained its ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating following an inspection under the newly revised framework.

Government education inspectors visited the school on Gisleham Road, Carlton Colville in Lowestoft in March, before schools were temporarily closed amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Inspectors praised its continued effectiveness, hailing the pupils as “very articulate and knowledgeable” while parents were “very positive about

the work of school staff.”

All the 448 pupils at the primary school – ranging in age from three to 11 – enjoy a curriculum which is “of high quality.”

Headteacher Benjamin Axon said the latest ‘outstanding’ report was testament to all the “hard work, care and compassion” that staff and governors had shown.

He said: “I am delighted that our school achieved and maintained our ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating.

“To achieve an outstanding judgement, especially under the newly revised framework, is a wonderful achievement and a credit to all the hard work, care and compassion that our staff and governors have invested into our school over recent years.

“I couldn’t be prouder of them all.”

With the school previously rated as ‘outstanding’ in 2011, the Ofsted report states: “As a result of this inspection, there is no change to Ofsted’s judgement of the school’s overall effectiveness.

“The school remains outstanding.

“When asked to describe their lessons, pupils told us that learning is fun, interesting and that teachers have lots of things to tell them.

“We saw pupils enjoying the activities and talking enthusiastically with one another about what they were doing.

“Pupils are very articulate and knowledgeable.

“The curriculum is of high quality.

“Traditionally, pupils of all abilities and needs achieve well as they move from one year to the next.

“The headteacher and deputy headteacher have, for some time, driven curriculum development successfully.

“The quality of their leadership is understated, they just get on with it.”

Mr Axon, who has been headteacher since 2017, added: “I would like to say a big thank you to our parents and carers for supporting us in our endeavours to do the best we possibly can for the children at Carlton Colville Primary.

“Most importantly, I want to thank all our fantastic children who attend our school.

“It is a privilege to be headteacher of this group of children and every day I see so many wonderful things that the children have learned or achieved not just academically but also seeing them develop as young individual people too.

“Creating and maintaining the right culture and climate in a school are essential cornerstones to its success and so I take this extremely seriously. “Moving forward we are not sitting still and we are already planning further enhancements to our school’s provision and to the learning experience that all our children receive.“

Jackie Holland, chair of governors, said: “Massive congratulations to everyone in Carlton Colville Primary School who have worked so hard in order to maintain the Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ status.

“Teaching and learning is always at the forefront of everything we do in our school.

‘What we learn with Pleasure we never Forget’ is truly behind everything we work towards and achieve in ensuring our children get the best start in their education – our parents and carers work closely with us to enable us to accomplish this.

“Thank you to all because everyone has played a huge part in making us the successful school we are.”

Reaction

One parent said: “Our daughter thoroughly enjoys attending Carlton Colville Primary School.

“The staff work really hard to make the curriculum creative and engaging and our daughter loves learning as a result.

“There are many opportunities to be involved in extra-curricular activities where wider life skills can be developed.

“The staff understand the children well and are really supportive which has enabled our daughter to thrive.”

Another parent added: “Our son is in year 3 and began his school life there back in nursery.

“During that time he’s always enjoyed going to school and the experiences he’s had there.

“This has been down to the commitments of the teaching staff who not only have been 100 per cent supportive but provide an environment that encourages children to learn in a way that’s fun as well.

“The school has been brilliant in keeping parents up to date with virtually live information via SchoolPing and the school website.

“As parents we feel fully informed in what’s happening in the wider school and more specifically with our son.”

One pupil said: “I enjoy going to Carlton Colville Primary because the teachers make the learning fun and we do lots of outdoor activities like when we were learning about Anglo Saxons we dug up artefacts on the school field!”

Another pupil said: “I love our school because we have so many amazing opportunities and experiences, we are very lucky to be part of it.”

Another added: “We have some many opportunities to push our learning the extra mile and enhance our learning so we can do well in the future.”