SCHOOL PRAISED FOR ITS SUCCESS

A Village school that found itself in a league of shame for truancy has now been praised by inspectors.

The absence of one pupil at tiny Fiskerton Primary School led to it being officially listed as the 57th worst school for truancy out of 14,877 mainstream primary schools.

But the absentee is no longer a pupil and Ofsted inspectors now say the school is improving.

During an inspection in February, just two months after the publication of the tables, they found the behaviour and achievement of pupils had improved.

“In the last inspection, the behaviour of pupils was a serious concern, with unsatisfactory behaviour disrupting learning,” their report stated.

“In the two years since the last inspection the school has given considerable attention to improving behaviour and pupils’ attitudes to school. This effort has been successful, to the extent that the improvement in behaviour has been very good.”

The inspectors also noted that, because the school has only 33 pupils on roll, attendance figures could be misleading.

“Prior to last year attendance was satisfactory and it is satisfactory now,” stated the report. “The school has good systems for promoting and monitoring attendance and parents confirmed that they were telephoned in the first day of any unexplained absence,” stated the report.

Headteacher Maralyn Papworth said she was delighted with the body of the report.

She hopes to forge greater links with nearby Reepham Primary School over the coming year.

“One of the main focuses for the school is the collaboration with Reepham which in past years has been a Beacon school,” she said.

“We are actively collaborating with Reepham but it’s becoming more formalised now.

“We want parents to perceive that we are an improving school.

“We want to aspire to Reepham and we want our parents to believe that and bring their children here for the right reasons,” she said.

Mrs Papworth said the improved behaviour of children at the school, which has a high number of pupils with special educational needs, had been achieved partly through the presentation of certificates and the holding of celebratory assemblies.

“It was about raising the self-esteem and confidence of the children,” she said.

Parent Ruth Taylor, of Sudbrooke, whose sons Sam (nine) and David (seven) attend the school, said she was delighted with the report.

“I’m very happy with the school and I think the educational standards are very high,” she said.