A VILLAGE primary school ‘at the heart’ of its West Somerset community has been given a glowing report by Government education inspectors.

The Ofsted team, who visited last month, said ‘small yet mighty’ Lydeard St Lawrence Primary School was ‘good’ in the four key areas of quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

They said the school had ‘high expectations’ for all pupils’ achievements and relationships between pupils and staff were described as ‘strong’.

The Ofsted report was a milestone for the school, which had been judged ‘inadequate’ before joining the Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust (BWMAT) nearly three years ago.

The 36-pupil school, led by headteacher Rebecca Lihou, was described as having a strong shared sense of belonging where pupils treated each other with care and respect and where they were safe and happy.

There was also praise for the way the leadership team had overhauled the curriculum in recent times.

Ms Lihou said: “We are so pleased the inspectors recognised the work done by the entire school community to contribute to a school where pupils are happy, safe, and fulfilled in everything we do.

“We are a small school but our ambition is huge and we will take all the good things from this inspection and work even harder to continue the journey of improvement.

“I would like to thank everybody, pupils, families, staff, and wider community for all their support.”

Lead inspector Liz Geller said: “Leaders, with the support of BWMAT, have completely overhauled the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils.

“It is now broad and ambitious.

“In most subjects, the way the curriculum is taught helps pupils to know and remember more.

“Staff make regular checks on what pupils know and remember and pupils have opportunities to revisit learning.

“This helps them to know and remember more over time.

“The school has placed a sharp focus around reading.

“Pupils read books that match the sounds they know, which helps them to develop fluency.

“Those who struggle are identified promptly and given swift support to catch up.

“Pupils quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become confident, fluent readers.”

The school was praised for effectively identifying, assessing, and meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and providing the appropriate support and adaptation which meant they felt included.

Ms Geller said: “Pupils, staff, and parents and carers describe the school as ‘small yet mighty’, which reflects their strong shared sense of belonging.

“Pupils take pride in the responsibilities they hold and play an active part in their school.

“For example, ‘pupil ambassadors’ introduced a ‘growing garden’.

“Pupils enjoy harvesting vegetables and appreciate the importance of caring for the environment.”

However, Ms Geller said curriculum implementation was sometimes not well-matched to pupil needs, meaning some children did not reach their intended goals.

She said the school should ensure lessons were informed by ‘robust expertise’ and assessment used to inform teaching so it supported pupils to build their knowledge cumulatively in all subjects.