The head of a good village church school has infectious enthusiasm, an approachable manner and high expectations, Ofsted found.

Inspector Martin Pye reached the conclusion after a two-day visit to Huxley Church of England primary which has 43 pupils aged 4 to 11.

Describing the school, which has three classes, as ‘good’ the inspector says head Lorna Pleavin, who is also head at Utkinton St Paul’s CE Primary, ‘demonstrates a proven ability to lead and inspire others’.

She has overseen numerous changes at the school while maintaining high staff morale and good standards of achievement and behaviour while her ‘infectious enthusiasm, approachable manner and high expectations have helped to develop leadership qualities in other staff and ensure that everyone does their best’.

As a result, staff, governors and parents have ‘high levels of confidence in her abilities and commitment to ongoing school improvement’.

Partnership benefits

Miss Pleavin’s role as head at Utkinton, another small school and the partnership that has evolved between the two schools has brought several benefits.

During his visit the inspector’s activities included observing teaching in all the classrooms and speaking to children.

Achievement and behaviour are good, he found. In a meeting with senior staff and governors, who are chaired by Steve Ratledge, the inspector recognised that numerous changes to the school made since the last inspection had led to positive outcomes.

Teaching across the school is consistently at least good and teachers create tasks that are ‘interesting’ and ‘challenging’.

Pupils’ standards are rising and although very small class sizes mean that results can fluctuate from year to year, children of all abilities achieve well and some do exceptionally well. Youngsters get off to a good start in reception and continue to make good progress throughout the school.

Senior staff make detailed checks on the quality of teaching and on the progress pupils are making while the children enjoy exciting and interesting lessons and topics.

“This is a fantastic outcome for our school to have achieved and is recognition of the hard work that everyone puts in to making Huxley a place where children love to come and learn,” said Miss Pleavin.

“We are pleased with the recognition that Ofsted have given us in this report.”