A CAERPHILLY school has moved out of Estyn monitoring after receiving ‘good’ ratings for its current performance and its prospects of improvement..

Pantside Primary, in Newbridge, had been placed under scrutiny by the Welsh education watchdog after being rated as ‘adequate’ in a school inspection in February 2016.

Low literacy and numeracy standards were reported among the school’s pupils. Teachers were also criticised for “not having high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve”.

But a subsequent visit by Estyn this month has led to the inspectorate removing the school from monitoring.

In a letter addressed to the primary school, Estyn assistant director Mererid Wyn Williams said: “Pantside Primary School is judged to have made good progress in respect of the key issues for action following the Estyn visit in May 2017.

“The school has been removed from the list of schools requiring Estyn monitoring.

“There will be no further Estyn monitoring visits in relation to this inspection.”

The news was welcomed at Pantside by its acting head teacher, Sophie Goodliffe, who has been in the role since February.

Speaking yesterday, she said: “It’s wonderful. It’s been a huge team effort from all members of staff, who have worked incredibly hard to stay focused on exactly what we needed to do to improve.

“We strive to provide the best possible education, so it feels nice to be recognised.

“We just focused on raising our teaching standards, training our staff, and linking with other local schools in the area to push us forwards.

Mrs Goodliffe added: “There’s a huge sense of team ethos from everybody, everyone had that responsibility to band together.

“It was a big challenge for me being new to the post but it’s been a journey for all of us.”

According to Mrs Goodliffe, the ambition for the school is to build on their achievements and work to “continually improve”.

Head teacher Kate Bennett, who will return from maternity leave at Christmas, is reportedly “over the moon” about the news.