RESPECT, responsibility and courage are just a few qualities that Westbury Leigh Cof E Primary School tries to instil in its pupils, according to headteacher Debbie Grimsey.

The primary in Sandalwood Road is one of the largest in the town, educating about 400 pupils in 14 classes.

Mrs Grimsey believes that the school’s motto of ‘Inspire, Aspire and Achieve’ has paved way for both pupils and teachers alike to strive for greatness which has resulted in them being given a good rating by Ofsted – an improvement on their previous grade of requiring improvement.

“We design our curriculum around three things and they all encourage the children to look beyond their own experiences and community and get a sense of their own identity. Through 'inspire' we want to show them what they can achieve and through 'aspiration' to show that nothing should hold them back," the headteacher of five years said.

“We also focus on achievements through results such as SATS but, more importantly, we want to make them ready and prepared to leave primary school and join secondary.

“I think since the school has been inspected, we have tried to increase the aspirations of the children and we are working with families to show how engaging learning can be.”

Westbury Leigh has also been rated outstanding by the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools.

In the last few years, developing virtual learning has been at the forefront of the school’s work in bringing learning to the home with teachers taking advantage of the IT facilities available to pupils.

“We have a lot of IT-based projects and that is a big focus and we did a film presentation where our pupils used a green screen and they showed off their films,” Mr Grimsey added.

“The children are an absolute delight and they make the most of everything on offer to them. The parents really work with us and the children just love coming to school. They walk through the gates with smiles on their faces. There is such a wealth of opportunity here and the children take every advantage of it.”

More recently, the school has achieved the Bronze Award for School Games as well as a bronze award for Healthy Schools in Wiltshire.

It also hopes to develop its farm area by getting animals on site to teach children how to care for them. They already produce their own vegetables which are used in their school lunches.