Staff at Wellington Lions Primary Academy have been taking effective action to achieve a good rating, an Ofsted inspection has found.

The Tidworth-based academy, which is part of the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust, received a monitoring inspection visit from the education watchdog on May 7.

It was the first in-person routine inspection of the school since Covid struck.

The inspection report found that, despite the impact of the pandemic, the school has continued to make progress.

Pupils’ behaviour is “calm and orderly”, and they attend school regularly.

Staff are “diligent” in keeping pupils safe, and there are many ways that pupils can share any concerns they may have. Staff in the team that supports the most vulnerable pupils are "experienced" and have "high standards".

The inspection found that Covid-19 has had an impact on pupils’ fluency in maths, and that remote learning affected pupils’ progress in some aspects of maths.

However, leaders and other staff have worked to ensure pupils could catch up swiftly after their return to the classroom.

The inspection took place because the school had previously had two successive judgements of “requires improvement”, most recently in November 2019.

Following this, the newly appointed senior leadership team have worked with school staff to bring about the changes needed and in April last year the primary school became part of the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust. A new chair of governors was also appointed.

Claire Addis, Executive Headteacher of Wellington Primaries, said she and her colleagues were very pleased at the inspectors’ findings.

She said: “I am delighted that the continued progress that Wellington Lions have made has been highlighted in the Ofsted monitoring report. The particular strengths of the inclusion team is deservedly highlighted, as throughout such a challenging year, all pupils’ well-being has been prioritised and supported.”

“The hard work staff continue to put into developing the curriculum to ensure pupils are engaged and challenged in their learning is having a real impact, and this has been particularly evident in phonics, reading and maths across the school."

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