The latest Ofsted report for a school in Dorset has seen it achieve an overall good rating.

Inspectors looked at early reading, mathematics and physical education at Corfe Castle Church of England School, which led to a good rating.

The good rating was applied to the five categories of quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, early years provision.

The news was welcomed by Amy Howe, the school’s headteacher, who was appointed in 2022.

She inherited a school that was previously rated as ‘requires improvement’ in an Ofsted inspection done before the pandemic. 

Miss Howe said: “As a school, we are incredibly proud of the education in Corfe Castle Primary School being recognised as 'good' in all areas.

“The whole school community have worked together to improve the education at the school. We are absolutely delighted with the recent inspection grading.”

The inspection praises the training provided to teachers and states they have ‘sound subject knowledge’ which allows them to teach the curriculum ‘effectively’.

The report also states that early reading is prioritised and that all staff are able to teach phonics ‘expertly’.

Inspectors were also impressed by the opportunities provided to pupils beyond the academic world, including sports days held on the grounds of Corfe Castle, and using the school on Sundays to provide soup and warm space to member of the local community, which they say helps pupils to ‘develop and understand citizenship’.

A couple of areas for the school to improve on were also mentioned, which included inaccurate pencil control and letter formation that occasionally go unaddressed.

This means some pupils do not produce fluent handwriting with the correct letter formation in line with the school’s approach to the teaching of handwriting.

The school must therefore ensure that expectations of writing are well understood by staff and must give pupils regular opportunities to practise.

In some wider curriculum subjects, approaches to assessment are still being developed. In these subjects, the school does not have oversight of how well pupils are learning and should ensure that assessment across all subjects is effective in identifying how well pupils are building their knowledge

Inspectors said about pupils attending the school: "Pupils love coming to this warm and welcoming school. The values of courage, community, perseverance and belief embody the work of the school. Staff have high expectations of all pupils. Pupils rise to these expectations.

“The school has worked tirelessly to engage with parents and carers since the previous inspection. The community speaks highly of the many changes that have taken place. Consequently, parents have confidence in the school, and pupils enjoy attending.”