STAFF at Honeybourne First School are delighted with their Ofsted report.

The school, which teaches 106 pupils, felt that the pleasing report was down to a good team effort and the happy caring atmosphere of the school.

Four inspectors visited Honeybourne First for three days in May, and confirmed that any areas deemed as unsatisfactory at the last inspection have now been rectified.

The quality of teaching was judged to be good in all classes and as a result the pupils seemed to learn well, making good progress by the time they left school.

Inspectors made particular mention of the good social development evident at breaktimes. They also noted that children's attitudes to work and general behaviour were very good.

The school was praised for implementing current national strategies for special needs pupils, such as Additional Literacy Support and the Better Reading Partnership, which meant that children were making better progress than expected.

The contribution of the parents and community was also praised and the school's "Walking Bus" initiative was found to be a positive innovation by reducing traffic congestion in the village and the subsequent threat to children's safety.

Although headteacher Gill Jones' leadership was judged to be very good and a strength of the school, the inspection team felt that one day a week out of the classroom was not enough for her increasing workload.

Despite commenting on the good use of space and equipment, the inspectors criticised the hall for being too small for full size physical education classes and a lack of equipment for younger children. Parents were pleased with the quality of teaching and how well the school is managed. However, they were concerned about too much homework in Class 2, and the sudden higher expectations causing stress to some pupils.

They also felt that the quality of marking was inconsistent, a view echoed by the inspectors' findings who said that although weaknesses previously identified in teaching have been largely eradicated, some marking fails to clearly identify what pupils should do to improve.

The report said that while teaching meets the needs of most pupils, there is not always enough challenge for the highest attainers.

It recommended that further development should now take place in the areas of children's writing and presentation and that Honeybourne First School should focus on the high attaining pupils by making sure they are fully stretched.