A PRIMARY school that was given a critical inspection report by Ofsted at the start of the term has been making good progress.

Aldeburgh Primary School was one of the first in Suffolk to be inspected under Ofsted’s new framework and was given the new rating of “requires improvement” back in October.

The Park Road school, which has about 90 pupils, was given a monitoring visit on December 11 and the inspector’s report has now been published.

Inspector Ian Seath said new headteacher Debbie Gayler, who started at the school in June, was having a positive impact on the school, particularly in preparing school improvement plans.

He said: “Teachers now accurately and regularly assess how much progress pupils are making.

“This is giving them a good view of how well pupils are doing so that lessons can be planned accordingly. In the best sessions, the teacher is able to pitch the level so that all pupils are interested and have to think and solve problems, with those who need it receiving support as required.

“However this is not yet done consistently across the school and in some examples the learning is pitched at a level that is too easy. This situation is changing quickly. Much professional development has been undertaken by staff.

“The new headteacher now monitors aspects of teaching effectively, giving guidance where needed and managing staff so that their targets for improvement are clear and challenging. Senior leaders and governors have begun to take effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent inspection.”

Mr Seath said areas for improvement now included modifying lesson observations and planning new training for teachers on data analysis.

Mrs Gayler said: “Obviously we have still got things we need to do but it shows that we are going in the right direction. He was happy with our school improvement plan and the fact that we are measuring the impact of different things we are doing.”