GOOD teaching and a positive ethos are some of the points highlighted by inspectors who visited Chawson First School in May.

Governors said they are proud of the turnaround the Wych Road school has made since the last report in 1999.

That report said the school had a very limited amount of parent involvement, procedures were inadequate for monitoring and evaluating work, and the standard of writing was below the expected level.

But this time, inspectors said the school's main strengths and weaknesses are:

l Provision in reception is very good and consequently children get a very good start to school

l The headteacher, Gerry Hughes, provides very good leadership and direction

l Teaching and learning are good in English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology (ICT)

l Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and behave very well

l The balance of the curriculum, religious education and links between subjects are under-developed

l Partnerships with parents, the community and other schools are good

l The school has strong teamwork among the staff and a good capacity to improve

Chair of governors Lynda Steele said: "We have come a long way since the last report six years ago. This is proof positive that the school is doing a great job for all of its pupils.

"It was reassuring that standards right across the school were well above average and that we were judged in Ofsted's words to be a 'very caring and safe school within which the pupils' learning can flourish'."

She added: "We are further encouraged to be rated as a school that has a good capacity to improve as Ofsted reported there is a clear culture of continuous improvement. We consider that no matter how well we are doing, there is always room for improvement."