THE good progress made by the new Tenby Church in Wales VC Primary School in the 18 months since it opened has been recognised in its first inspection report.

The state-of-the-art new build school in the town’s Heywood Lane brought together pupils from the former Tenby infants and junior schools.

And this has been accomplished “successfully” by headteacher John Palmer and his leadership team, the report from Welsh inspection body Estyn has stated.

Said Mr Palmer: “The governing body is very pleased with the report and the progress recognised in the short time the school has existed.”

The report commented that “considerable improvements” to important aspects of the school’s work has been brought together since its opening in September 2016.

It continued: “Pupils enjoy attending school and benefit well from the school’s supportive nature and the breadth of extra-curricular and community experiences.

“Overall, pupils make good progress in developing and using their speaking, reading, mathematical and information and communication technology (ICT) skills.

“However, there are shortcomings in pupils’ standards in writing and Welsh.”

Commented Mr Palmer: “In a short space of time, we are very proud to have gained judgments of ‘good’ in three out of the five inspection areas, with the other two being rated ‘adequate’ - strengths outweighing areas for improvement.

“Particular strengths were seen to be the care, support and guidance given to our children, including support for children with additional learning needs, pupil wellbeing and attitudes to learning and the leadership of the school.

“One of the most pleasing aspects is that the school has not been placed in any follow-up or monitoring category as a result of the inspection.”

Mr Palmer said that the need to improve standards in extended writing and Welsh is already being worked on, having been already identified by the school, and these will feature in the revised School Development Plan. He was confident that these areas would improve, following on from improvements made in reading, maths and ICT strengths.

He added: “I would like to congratulate the governors, staff, children, parents and volunteers for their hard work in making our school a successful one of which we can feel very proud.”

The full report can be found online on the Estyn website or tenbyprimary.co.uk, or in hard copies available from the school.