A tale of two schools

To gain ‘outstanding’ in all areas in an Ofsted inspection is no mean feat and a real credit to Principal Paul Swatton and his team and all the students at the school.

Academic achievements are commendable but what also came out of the report was the fact that pupils showed respectful behaviour.

It is not easy to meet the rigorous standards set by Ofsted, while avoiding all the many pitfalls of running a large educational establishment. Claverham deserves all the praise it gets while now facing the challenge of maintaining those high standards.

IT is good to see that the local education authority will be consulting before deciding whether to close Mountfield and Whatlington Primary School.

Closing a school should, in our opinion, be the very last measure and only when all other options have been exhausted should it be considered.

The school may be on Special Measures but an interim Ofsted report said it was making reasonable progress. We have seen schools on Special Measures being transformed into highly successful schools and Mountfield should have the same opportunity.