A "REAL team effort" has helped Minehead First School achieve a 'good' rating in its latest Ofsted inspection report, with glowing praise all round for staff, pupils and governors.

Headteacher James Geen described the report - the first the school has received under tougher, new inspection criteria - as a "massive boost" for both the school and wider community following two previous 'satisfactory' gradings.

"It has been a real team effort by all those working at and connected with Minehead First School and, most importantly, the children have shown themselves to be fantastic ambassadors for our school, he said.

"The children, parents, governors and staff are all overjoyed to learn the school has been rated as 'good'."

Inspector Christine Huard said the school had made significant improvement since the last inspection, particularly in the quality of teaching and the progress of pupils.

She found pupils' achievements were good and from very low starting points their skills were "broadly in-line" with age-related expectations in reading and mathematics by the end of year four.

However, attainment was slightly below in writing, although the inspector noted that the introduction of a programme to raise writing standards had already been successful, although grammar, spelling and punctuation still needed work.

"Pupils feel safe in school," said Mrs Huard. "They behave well and are keen to learn. They sustain concentration and approach their tasks with enthusiasm and zeal.

"The leadership of the headteacher is very strong in managing the school's and teacher performance.

"Rigorous monitoring and evaluation of how well the school was doing has enabled leaders and staff to identify where there were weaknesses in teaching and learning."

She said a successful programme of staff training had also been introduced.

The only thing keeping it off the top 'outstanding' spot was that attainment in writing was not yet as good as pupils' achievements in readings and maths, while teaching, although good, was not yet outstanding across the board.

Mrs Huard made a trio of recommendations for the future but said she was confident the school had "secure capacity" for further improvement.

Among her recommendations were the need to improve writing skills across the school, raise the quality of teaching by using a wider range of imaginative strategies and working more closely with parents and carers to help them better support their children's learning.

She was pleased with teaching standards at the school: "Children achieve well because teaching is consistently good.

"While children leave the reception with skills that are still below those expected, the percentage of those who achieve age-related expectations is increasing year on year.

"Teachers throughout the school work hard to ensure that learning is relevant and fun.

"Nevertheless, in order to make teaching outstanding, there is scope for teachers to use more imaginative learning strategies and to ensure that teaching has brisk pace in all lessons."

She found that reading skills were above average and achievement in maths had improved "significantly".

Pupils with disabilities and special educational needs were also making similar progress and received good support from effective learning support assistants.

Mrs Huard said the planned curriculum had a positive impact on pupils' progress and teachers adapted it well to suit the needed and abilities of individual pupils.

Children had an equally positive attitude to school, punctuality was good and attendance rates were above average.

"There are strong relationships between the pupils and adults in the school and a mutual respect clearly exists between them," Mrs Huard said.

Headteacher Mr Geen was also praised for his strong leadership skills.

"Since being appointed, he has relentlessly pursued opportunities to improve provision and raise achievement," said Mrs Huard.

"Staff have responded with enthusiasm. They are motivated and enthusiastic and share the ambitious but realistic vision for sustained improvement.

"The many improvements made since the last inspection, particularly in teaching, have led to pupils' higher attainment by the end of year four and an improvement in pupils' attendance," she said.

Middle leaders were also deemed to have an influential role in improvements by playing an important part in the effective monitoring of the school.

Mrs Huard added: "The monitoring programme is robust and provides valuable feedback for all staff on what is going well and where further development is needed.

"The governing body is very knowledgeable and challenges the school's performance very well.

"Governors and school leaders ensure that children are safe and secure an all statutory requirements regarding safeguarding and child protection are fully met."

Lynn Chuter, chairman of the governors, said she was delighted the hard work of everyone involved with the school had been recognised.

"We were grateful for the positive way parents responded to the Ofsted questionnaire and showed they valued the progress their children were making.

"We will continue to work together as a whole school community to further improve the educational opportunities for all the children who come the school, now and in the future," she said.