Outstanding result for Crescent Primary School

Pupils and staff at a Mansfield school are celebrating after behing hailed as outstanding by education inspectors.Crescent Primary School, Booth Crescent, has been awarded the highest possible rating following the inspection by staff from education watchdog Ofsted.In their report, inspectors Claire Buffham and Sarah Chadwick said: “The progress of pupils currently in school, and over time, is consistently very strong, in reading, writing and mathematics and across a range of subjects.“Pupils spoke with warmth and pride about their school, saying, for example, ‘the school is lovely because the teachers are enthusiastic and listen to our ideas’. “They praised the ‘colour challenges’ which help children to choose work which is mostly at the right level of difficulty.“Parents reported unanimously that their children are happy at school. “The well-coordinated, thorough and caring approach to safeguarding has resulted in a strong culture of vigilance which permeates the school.”Vic Wilkinson, headteacher, said: “We are absolutely delighted.“The children were clear we were being inspected, and were determined to demonstrate outstanding behaviour, so I am very proud of them. “We have received messages of congratulations from parents and are very lucky to have the support of the whole community, including our neighbours and friends of the school. Mr Wilkinson said the whole school celebrated their achievement with a special assembly and treats. He said: “We held a special assembly to teach the children the history of the school, which was opened in 2001. “It is incredible that the school has gone from special measures in 2003 to this wonderful place we are in now. “I would like to thank the dedication of the staff here – without their blood, sweat and tears there is no way we could have achieved this.”Staff were praised in the report for their “high morale”.Teachers expressed positive views when surveyed, such as ‘we feel trusted as professionals’, ‘this is an amazing team’ and ‘this is the best school for teamwork and morale I’ve ever worked in’.The hard work of the goveners was also highlighted, with the report saying “Governors are closely involved in the life of the school, including, visiting classes, and joining leaders in checking the quality of pupils’ work.”