Compton Primary School out of special measures

Teaching and leadership improvements key to turnaround for rural school

A PREVIOUSLY failing Compton primary school has been taken out of special measures.

Ofted inspectors visited Compton Primary School, in School Road, in March, over two days, and have deemed it a good school with outstanding features just 15 months on from a damning inspection which criticised the standard of teaching as inadequate.

The headteacher of The Downs School in Compton, Val Houldey, was drafted in as an executive headteacher to oversee the running of the school, after previous headteacher, Gillian Leishman, announced her resignation following the poor inspection in December 2009.

Two inspections have since taken place, and the rapid turnaround in fortunes has been credited largely to the changes in leadership and management.

Teaching, previously deemed sub-standard and having a detrimental effect on children's learning by inspectors, has improved “dramatically “since the last inspection, the report said.

Mrs Houldey, said she was absolutely delighted at the outcome of the inspection.

“It has been an awful lot of hard work and we have come out of special measures very quickly,” she said.

“To get a good rating with outstanding features is quite a turnaround. Everybody has pulled together as a team, including the staff, the governors, the children and parents, who have all been phenomenal.”

Mrs Houldey added that the aim was for Compton Primary School to become an outstanding school, which she said it was “well on the way” to doing.

Particular praise was given to the early years foundation stage which was judged to be outstanding in all areas, as was the school's capacity to make sustained improvement and it safeguarding procedures.

Alison Millar, who was brought in as associate headteacher to assist Mrs Houldey, also received commendation for her impact and said: “When one of the Downs School pupils asked me what I was going to do at the primary school I told him that we were going to make it an outstanding school – we are on the way to doing that. It has been a privilege to work alongside staff, governors, children, and of course parents who all have the same aim.”