UPAVON Primary School's new headteacher Beverley Martin is lavishly praised in a report by the Office of Standards in Education, Ofsted, which was sent out to parents last week.

Mrs Martin took over in April last year after a period of instability at the 84-pupil village primary, which saw five heads or acting heads in four years. Standards of teaching and behaviour were at an all-time low and staff morale was suffering.

But an inspection team headed by schools inspector Kay Cornish, who visited in March, was deeply impressed with the changes Mrs Martin had wrought in the short time she had been there.

She wrote: "The new headteacher and her governors appointed all new teaching staff and two assistants in autumn 2002. A different picture emerges during this inspection. Pupils' attainment and learning show significant improvement. Standards in all year groups have improved."

Mrs Cornish added: "This improvement is due to the present good teaching, improved planning of lessons and new leadership."

Mrs Martin said the success of her team lay in their insistence on laying down a clear framework of behaviour for the children to follow.

She said: "We tackled the behaviour issue by making it clear from day one what was expected from the children and what would not be tolerated. They responded brilliantly. Children respond very clearly to being set boundaries over which they cannot step.

"Children are willing and eager to learn. Given the opportunity, they absorb learning like a sponge. Our job is to inspire them to learn and encourage their thinking skills; teaching them creative thinking so they can become independent learners."

Mrs Martin and her team use each children's strengths to address their weaknesses. She said: "For example, if a child is gifted musically but is not good at maths, we will use their musical skills to lead them to improvement in other subjects."

The school suffers particularly because many of the pupils come from services families, particularly the Army, as the school is close to the Trenchard Lines camp, and the children have often had a rather disrupted school career when they arrive.

Mrs Martin said: "We pride ourselves for what we call rapid inclusion. We make sure that new pupils are accepted as soon as they come through the school gate by setting up a buddy scheme of year six pupils who will take them under their wing.

"It was very gratifying that a new pupil was recently voted on to the school council just three weeks after he arrived."

The report also notes that parents interviewed said they appreciated the staff's approachability, the friendly ethos and bright, light classrooms, the improving standards, the after-school clubs and the improved community links, including end-of-year services at the local church.

The report does note that, despite the vastly improved standards of pupils' attainment, the school still lags well behind other similar schools in English, maths, science, art and design, and ICT information and communication technology.

Mrs Martin is not overly concerned that she and her staff still have a lot to do. She said: "The whole point about the Ofsted inspection was that it would tell me whether we were on the right track or not. Clearly we are and it is just a case of keeping going. Standards will improve, it will just take a little longer to do so."

The chairman of governors, Chris Hanlan, said: "In the last year, Mrs Martin has transformed the school. It is going to take time to get through to strong academic results, but we are well on the way now. The effect on attendance and learning has been electric. The children's behaviour is so good, we can hold school assemblies."