CHILDREN at Branksome Heath Junior School made more progress last term than in any other term before, its head teacher has said.

The school, formerly Brank-some Heath Middle, was given a new identity last autumn term when it lost its Year 7 pupils and gained Year 3 pupils.

It has been focussing hard on academic progress after its last Ofsted inspection as a middle school said it required improvement.

The latest school newsletter included data about progress in reading, writing and maths which showed that “the determination to improve has been great”, according to head teacher Stuart Fox.

“Our children have achieved very well last term, making greater progress during the autumn term than in any other term before,” he wrote.

Ofsted had asked the school to focus on improving attainment and accelerating pupils’ progress, with a particular emphasis on boys’ writing.

Mr Fox told the Daily Echo: “We are always conscious of the need to continue the improvement in progress and one measure we use is to look back to compare progress with the same time period.

“The data I sent home to congratulate the children and staff was an indication that the measure from the end of Key Stage One until the end of the Christmas term indicates that we have made greater progress than before.

“This will be important as, being a ‘required to improve’ school, we need to make accelerated progress to achieve the targets set for the end of Year 6 that are always challenging.

“The data indicates that we are going to have more children make, at least, expected progress by the end of this year and when we have a further inspection, be evidence of the school having moved towards the ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ categories.”

He added: “Children and staff are working extremely hard.

“Progress is increasing. However, we are aware that we have some way to go before we can say that we are above the national expectations for reading, writing and maths. But we will get there!”