COLYTON primary school, put on special measures by Ofsted in Christmas 2007, has continued its robust improvements with good teaching and rising standards, say inspectors.

COLYTON primary school, put on special measures by Ofsted in Christmas 2007, has continued its robust improvements with good teaching and rising standards, say inspectors.

A new report by two Ofsted inspectors says the school is continuing the good progress started last year under new head Nic Harris.

There is only one priority for further improvement - to continue to raise standards in years three and four.

"Since the last visit, the school has continued to move forward robustly with a good range of initiatives to keep teaching and pupils' progress and achievement improving," say the inspectors.

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage and years one and two are achieving well.

Pupils in years four and five continue to make accelerated progress and year six pupils are achieving above average standards in English and maths, said lead inspector Laurie Lewin.

He said: "Since the beginning of term the new teacher for this class has ensured tasks match closely with pupils' needs and she has set clear expectations for what all individuals should achieve."

An extra teacher has been appointed to work on boosting pupils' achievements.

Mr Lewin said pupils said they were working harder and concentrating more on improving their work.

He reports: "The quality of teaching has improved since the last visit, with no occurrences of unsatisfactory teaching and much good teaching observed.

"Pupils continue to enjoy their work and the increased levels of challenge with which they are presented.

"There is a very supportive team atmosphere around the school with staff providing very effective support for each other and collaborating well.

"The very good relationships between staff and pupils contribute strongly to the positive atmosphere evident throughout the school."

He said there had been good progress on two key areas for improvement - ensuring greater consistency in the quality of teaching and support and making more use of assessment to raise expectations and show pupils how to improve.

Behaviour is good across the school, which is reflected in lessons, in the playground and during lunch in the school hall.

Head teacher Nic Harris said: "This is a fantastic report, recognising the work put in by everyone - staff, children and parents.

"It certainly shows that we are taking great strides towards coming out from special measures.