THE Grove Primary School has announced the appointment of a new headteacher, just a week after receiving praise in a report from Ofsted inspectors for making rapid improvements.

Kate Wilkins will join the school officially in September from Widcombe Junior School, near Bath, where she has led the school to “outstanding” over eight years.

She has also recently been appointed as a Local Leader of Education by the National College for School Leadership, which enables her to work with other schools in challenging circumstances to improve pupil outcomes.

Paul Francis, chair of governors at The Grove, said that Mrs Wilkins was the strongest amongst a highly competitive field of candidates for the position and will be an asset both to the school and the local community.

Mr Francis said: “Kate joins us at a time where fantastic progress has already been made, as proven by our recent Ofsted Inspection outcome.

“She will help us to build on that success, providing vision and leadership to take us to where we want to be – a primary education provider of choice in the local area.

“Her experience and proven track record at Widcombe make her a brilliant addition to the Grove team and we know that she already has great plans for the school.

“The whole school welcomes Kate and is looking forward to her joining our community on its journey.”

The school’s recent Ofsted report found the school had improved “rapidly” from the last visit of inspectors at the beginning of 2013 and moved the school from “requires improvement” to “good”.

Inspectors, who visited the school on January 28-29, cited great teamwork and progress in both teaching and achievement and particularly highlighted the good work of interim headteacher Katherine Schofield and deputy headteacher Anna Pemberton.

To read the full Ofsted report, visit www.grove.wilts.sch.uk/wilts/primary/grove