Outstanding Achievement Recognised

This logo will now be proudly displayed on the school letterhead, as a result of receiving a letter from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools today.

The letter opened with, "One of my most enjoyable duties is to publish a list of providers that were judged to be outstanding when they were inspected. Please accept my warmest congratulations on achieving this very high standard of practice. I do not underestimate the enormous hard work that it takes."

The letter goes on to invite headteacher Avis Curry to a conference in Birmingham, in January 2008, that will recognise schools which have achieved an "outstanding" classification. The conference will gather ideas on best practice and aims to use them to 'provide better outcomes for all learners'.

Ofsted's web site has the list of outstanding providers.

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Remember, this isn't the first time that the work done by Avis Curry and her team has been recognised as outstanding by Ofsted.

In 2000-2001, the same 'outstanding' award was made to Combs School.

Avis was quoted in DCC's own newspaper "NW Insight", in 2002: "We're delighted that all our hard work has been recognised. The fact that we are a small school means that we can develop a really close relationship betweeen the home, school and children."

Another quote in the article also highlighted the role of small schools: "I would like to add my congratulations to staff, pupils, governors and parents at Combs Infant. It's particularly pleasing to see smaller schools on the OfSTED list and it provides a shining example of how smaller schools provide an excellent education for their communities."

Who said that? That's right, Councillor Alan Charles.