'Good' school in Warsop lives up to its motto -- 'work hard, be kind'

Birklands Primary School, which has 311 pupils on its books, has been rated ‘Good’ for the second consecutive time by Ofsted inspectors.

In his report, inspector Mark Anderson said: “The motto is evident throughout the school. Pupils are happy at Birklands, and have positive attitudes to learning.

"There is an ethos of everyone being valued, and no-one is left out. Pupils describe the school as an amazing place with supportive friends.”

The Appleton Street establishment is part of the Nottingham-based Nova Education Trust, which runs about 15 schools across the East Midlands.

A new head teacher, Vanessa Farr, has taken the reins, replacing Celia Smith, who is now executive head, although at the time of the inspection in July, deputy head Michael Cohen was in charge.

Ofsted found that pupils behaved well and felt safe, with bullying infrequent.

Birklands was praised for focusing beyond the academic curriculum and teaching children “about the different jobs they could do in the future”.

Staff also enhanced the youngsters’ knowledge of the world, creating, for instance, an association with a school in China.

"Pupils are encouraged to be responsible citizens and respect a range of faiths and cultures,” said the report.

The teaching of reading was a strength too, with pupils encouraged to read independently five times a week and workshops set up to help parents support their children.

"Pupils develop well as confident and fluent readers,” said Mr Anderson.

Praise was also dished out to “well-trained staff” and to the supportive governing body, which was chaired by Richard Flewitt.

Only two areas were highlighted where Birklands needs to improve.

Firstly, the inspector found that some subjects were not sufficiently well planned. Secondly, some pupils were not given a good enough understanding of contemporary society, which meant they didn’t appreciate key British values, such as democracy and individual liberty.

New head Vanessa said: “I am constantly impressed by the hard work and dedication of our staff and children, so it is fantastic to see Ofsted report so positively on everything we do. We are thrilled.

"I am proud of every member of the school community and look forward to building on this foundation for the future.”