A FENLAND primary school’s community links have been praised by government inspectors for having a positive impact on its pupils.

West Walton Community Primary School in Wisbech excelled in a glowing Ofsted report and was rated an overall ‘good’. A number of assessment criteria was deemed to be ‘outstanding’ - including the extent to which pupils contribute to the school and wider community - the best inspection rating possible.

The report said: “Pupils raise money for a range of different charitable causes.

“The school’s choir shares its talents with the local community in the church and at a home for the elderly. Participation in music contributes to pupils outstanding’ spiritual development.

“They have a very strong sense of right and wrong, and resolve conflicts among themselves at a school’s ‘peace tree’, an innovation pupils devised.

“The promotion of community cohesion is good, with outstanding local links and a growing appreciation of the different cultures and traditions of people who make up the UK.”

Head teacher Jill Davis was praised for her “outstanding leadership” at the 227-pupil school. Her “clear vision” for improvement was described as a significant reason the school’s standards of attainment rose since 2007’s Ofsted report.

The only criteria to score a ‘satisfactory’ rating - third-best in the four-grade marking system - was the pupils’ attainment.

Most parents who returned questionnaires were “supportive” of the school’s work, but a “small minority” had concerns about the way unacceptable behaviour was managed.

The school were told to make a small number of improvements, the main one being that the “proportion” of Year 2 students achieving Level 3 skills needed to have reached “at least levels of the national average” to progress.