A RURAL school is working towards achieving an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted.

A recent interim inspection revealed that Whittonstall First School continued to be ‘good’ following its previous report in 2012.

And it was recommended that Ofsted head back to the school in the near future to conduct a full report, which would allow the school to be recorded as ‘outstanding’ if it continued the work currently being carried out.

As detailed in the report, Whittonstall has shown great improvement across the board, and inspectors hinted that the school would reach the highest grading available during the next visit.

In a letter to executive headteacher, Leanne Barker, Ofsted inspector Anne Vernon said: “The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

“Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 (full) inspection.”

The school received praise for the following:

l pupils achieved a greater depth in writing as a result of effective teaching;

l language development, verbal and written was evident;

l regular monitoring of classroom teaching and pupils’ books identified gaps in learning.

The school was advised to give pupils further opportunities to produce extended writing pieces independently.