A glowing Ofsted report has praised Dilton Marsh CofE Primary School for its wonderful improvement after staff and pupils raised its rating from the education regulator.

Following a two-day visit from inspectors on October 31 and November 1, Dilton Marsh has been rated as ‘Good’ across all areas, including quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision.

The village school had previously been rated as ‘Requires Improvement’, following an inspection in 2019, but has changed considerably for the better in the last four years.

Dilton Marsh headteacher Jill Hibbs said: “This achievement is a collective celebration for our whole school community, who rose to the occasion during this inspection to showcase their learning, behaviour and positive relationships.

“I am delighted that our pupils and staff were so highly praised and it’s wonderful to see their hard work reflected in the report’s outcome.”

She added: “As a school, our priority is to encourage children to become independent, curious and resilient learners.

“We are ambitious for our future and have a shared commitment to driving improvement to ensure that each of our children develops a passion for life-long learning, striving for what’s best for ourselves, others and the world.”

Dilton Marsh, an Acorn Education Trust setting, was celebrated by Ofsted inspectors for building ‘trusting’ relationships with pupils which help them feel safe. Safeguarding at the school was found to be ‘effective’.

Further recognition was given to the school for preparing pupils for secondary school, with pupil’s responding to staff’s high expectations for them by ‘behaving well and working hard’ and being ‘highly engaged in their learning’.

The report noted that the school had ‘rightly focused on developing the curriculum since the previous inspection’.

The new broad curriculum was found to have been carefully sequenced to help children build their knowledge successfully.

The inspectors praised staff for having ‘high ambitions for pupils, including those with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND)’, who learn alongside their peers.

They noted that the school ‘has inspired a love of reading’; as a result, ‘pupils feel confident and take pleasure in reading’ with some children attributing reading to ‘supporting positive mental health’.

The report noted that in a minority of wider subjects and mathematics, there are still some improvements to be made to help fill gaps in pupil’s knowledge.

But it went on to highlight the training that staff are receiving from across the Trust is helping boost confidence and improve subject leadership.