A PRIMARY school in North Dorset is continuing to make progress after being placed in special measures last year. Blandford St Mary Church of England School was rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted inspectors following an inspection in March last year. They said leadership was "ineffective and underdeveloped" and teachers had "weak subject knowledge", which limited pupils' development in spelling, punctuation and grammar.

However, an Ofsted monitoring inspection was carried out last month, the second to take place since the school was placed in special measures. The report praised improvements that have been made at the school, including outcomes for pupils needing additional support. Inspectors complimented the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) for working "effectively to improve the systems in place for supporting pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities". There was also acknowledgement of the continued improvements made to pupils' progress in the Early Years, Phonics screening, Key Stage One, and Key Stage Two.

Overall, the report said: "Leaders have worked effectively to bring about improvements across the school. Their evaluation of the school’s performance is accurate and based on regular monitoring. Leaders have acted effectively to ensure a consistency in the teaching of writing and mathematics.

"I recommend that the school may appoint one newly qualified teacher in consultation with me before the next monitoring visit."

During its March 2017 inspection, Ofsted said governors had "not taken timely and effective action to hold leaders to account", adding the school had declined as a result.

In its latest inspection report, Ofsted states: "Governors’ awareness of school performance continues to go from strength to strength. The trust’s efforts to take responsibility of full governance responsibilities has helped to concentrate governors’ focus on improving pupils’ outcomes through high-quality teaching, learning and assessment. "Governors can demonstrate how their challenge to school leaders is beginning to bear fruit.”

The school's head teacher, Daniel Lasbury-Carter, said there was an "enormous amount to celebrate" following Ofsted's findings. "The positive outcomes from the two monitoring reports continue to drive our team's aim of being the very best school for every pupil in our care. "It is pleasing to read recognition of this in the HMI report."