CURRY Rivel Primary School - a story of transformation since head teacher Amanda Russell took over the reins six years ago.

The school was bordering on special measures in their 2008 OFSTED report but Mrs Russell said she was determined to bring a focus and stability to move forward.

In their latest report in June last year, the school was awarded its first 'Good' rating from the education authority and Mrs Russell said that is a testament to the hard work and teamwork of her staff.

She said: “I just tried to get people working together and now there is a strong sense of teamwork which is what I set out to do as well as making sure the lessons were as engaging as possible.

“Children need to be physical in the classroom and doing stuff and work needs to be purposeful and relevant.

“There is huge access to the world so no children will be sitting around for long.”

The school's ethos, enjoy and achieve, must be working wonders as smiling children and the sound of laughter is backed up with some impressive achievement figures.

There are 139 children on role at the school, plus around 20 pupils in the pre-school, and the school pride themselves on giving children experiences they may not be able to have elsewhere.

One of their class topics this year included transforming a classroom into an aeroplane with check-in desks, children dressed as flight staff and designing their own passports.

OFSTED commented on the school's excellent reading and writing qualities but said improvements can be made to Maths and running other subjects, such as art, more regularly.

Mrs Russell said: “We have been putting all our attention to get reading and writing skills where we want them and now they are so the next step is to focus on Maths.

“We want to find a consistent approach across the whole school which we have been able to do for writing.

“We want to push forward and we are aiming for active learning and making sure the children are doing stuff all the time.”