A TEST Valley school has improved its Ofsted rating following a five-year wait.

Nursling Church of England Primary School, in Nursling, achieved a ‘Good’ rating today in all categories from school watchdog Ofsted, following an inspection last month.

Their previous two inspections, in 2014 and 2017, both rated the school as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall and in all categories apart from ‘early years provision’ which received a ‘Good’.

The school on Nursling Street, had a new management team introduced in September 2017, with Headteacher Jo Jearrad having to bring “a fast turnaround” to the school.

She said: “It was amazing - what was a real focus was the element of team and high staff morale.

“To go into the staff room and tell staff we achieved good was such a relief.

“It was such a special moment.”

Mrs Jearrad added: “Tremendous recognition has to go to the current Nursling Team who have implemented so many changes for the benefit of our children to ensure standards have been raised across the board.”

She introduced a clear routine for day to day learning and a whole new curriculum which was age appropriate.

The brand new Ofsted report said: “The school is well led and managed. Leaders and staff have worked hard to ensure that pupils study a wide variety of subjects to a high standard.

“Pupils love learning at Nursling Primary and apply themselves well to any given task.

“The Nursling team want the very best for pupils in their care, socially and academically. The values, ‘love, hope and courage’, weave through all aspects of school life. Relationships are strong.

“”Staff are a united team, focussing on the best possible outcomes for pupils.

“Bullying is not tolerated.”

The school achieved Good in ‘The quality of education’, ‘behaviour and attitudes’, ‘personal development’, ‘leadership and management’ and ‘early years provision’.

There has also been a lot of staff changes at the school since the change of management team.

A previous comment on the 2017 ‘Requires Improvement’ report said: “The quality of teaching is not yet consistently good across the school. This is because, until recently, leaders have not given teachers accurate advice.”

With just 183 pupils, spread across seven classes, the family friendly atmosphere does not go unnoticed with all children known by name and a strong sense of community.

The school also has a pet bearded dragon for children to learn about, as well as access to iPads for class use.