Report praises 'excellent' school (From The Northern Echo)

Report praises 'excellent' school

6:07pm Thursday 23rd February 2012 in Darlington

AN independent Darlington prep school has been praised in an inspection report.

Yarm at Raventhorpe, for pupils aged three to 11, was found to be a happy, caring, family environment by the Independent Schools' Inspectorate, the national body which assesses private schools and reports its finding to the Government.

The report from a team of inspectors found the school to be excellent - the highest grade - in most areas, including leadership and management, and good in all others.

Areas to work on included: fully-establishing systems to help more able pupils; increasing the use of information and communications technology; completing and put in place a system for monitoring the curriculum and for training staff in subject management; and ensure selfevaluation records reflect findings fully in the early years.

The school's early years' provision was judged outstanding in all four categories, and overall.

The report said: "Excellent relationships exist between children and adults, who nurture childrren's wellbeing, recognise their uniqueness, and promote rapid progress with learning and personal development."

Headteacher David Boddy said: "The report gives a ringing endorsement of the progress the school has made in recent years and the plans we have in place for the future."