STAFF and pupils at a Malvern primary school are celebrating after a successful Ofsted inspection.

A team of three inspectors spent two days at Great Malvern Primary School, Lydes Road, and rated it as good in all four key categories – the quality of teaching, the pupils’ achievement, behaviour and safety and leadership and management.

The lead inspector, Denise Morris, praised the school’s leaders and governing body for having a very clear vision for improving pupils’ education and said the high-quality training put in place for staff was already bringing marked improvements.

Mrs Morris said the quality of teaching was good across the school, with some of it being outstanding.

“Teachers are skilled at questioning and extending pupils’ knowledge. They plan and manage lessons well, ensuring that pupils make the best possible use of time.”

She said a previous history of poor attendance had been tackled and observed that the children are really proud of their school.

Pupils make the best progress in reading, but writing, though good, is not as strong.

This, and the fact that some governors are still new to their role, were given as the reasons for the school not yet rating as outstanding.

Headteacher Paul Jackson-Read said he was delighted with the report.

“This is a tremendous achievement by everyone connected to the school, especially as the inspection was carried out under a new inspection framework which raised the bar in many areas,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it is the quality of teaching that matters and this inspection proves that we have a fabulous teaching team here.

“As with all inspections we were given a few areas to work on and these were no surprise to us as both areas had previously been identified by the school and flagged up to the inspection team.

“Our academy status has helped with this move forward and the conversion has certainly brought us benefits, but it is the hard work of staff, governors, volunteers and the support of parents that has brought this success.”