'Welcoming' school in Ashfield hailed for living up to 'best we can be' motto

Underwood Church Of England Primary School, which has 177 children aged five to 11, on its books, was given the accolade after an inspection by the education watchdog, Ofsted.

For the fourth time running, dating back to 2006, the school was handed a rating of ‘Good’, which was described as “wonderful” by head teacher Ian Baxter.

Mr Baxter said: “We are thrilled to receive such a glowing report from Ofsted. It is testament to the efforts of everyone in the school community, and they are justifiably proud.

"We are passionate about ‘being the BEST (believing, experiencing, succeeding, together) we can be’.

"With this Ofsted judgement, we now have a clear mandate to move forward into this new academic year with confidence, building on what has been achieved thus far and going from strength to strength.”

In referencing the motto, inspectors said: “The school is welcoming and helps pupils to believe in themselves. They learn to value the experiences and successes they have together.

"Pupils want to do well, and they enjoy learning. They behave well and treat each other with respect. They have warm relationships with staff, who they trust to help them if they have a worry.”

Ofsted also made a point of how pupils “contribute to their school community”. They engaged with “a growing range of clubs activities” and, at lunchtimes, they acted as playground buddies, shed monitors or sports ambassadors. Some had joined a gardening club and were “delighted by their beautiful crop of rhubarb”.

The inspectors praised school leaders for ensuring that “pupils know what is expected of them”.

Furthermore, staff were “proud to work” at the Underwood school, especially as governors were “mindful of their wellbeing”. The governing body, which is chaired by Liam Russell, “performs its duties well”, said the report.

Ofsted said “leaders have worked with great focus to review and improve the school’s curriculum”. But some areas of it were not yet fully developed, meaning teachers were sometimes unclear about what to teach.

Mr Baxter accepted this criticism, saying: “This is an understandable target for improvement. We recognise that the rapid, intensive work we undertook on the curriculum means it remains an important area for consolidation.”