A small village primary school has been transformed in just two years after going from ‘requiring improvement’ to be rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted.

St Mary’s Primary School in Portbury was criticised for below-par teaching standards in 2013, however the education watchdog has hailed staff, pupils, governors and parents for its upturn in fortune.

Headteacher Lorraine Wright told the Times this week she is delighted by Ofsted’s positive findings.

Inspectors visited the school in mid-November and delivered their report over the Christmas holidays.

It was found to be good in all five areas it examines, including the quality of teaching and management.

The inspector’s report said: “The headteacher has improved the quality of teaching and learning considerably.

“Pupils are proud of their school, behave well and are keen to learn.

“They appreciate the care taken by their teachers to plan interesting activities and visits linked to learning.”

In 2013 the Portbury school was criticised in several areas, with teaching being described as ‘not consistently good’.

That inspection came during Mrs Wright’s first year in charge and she paid tribute to those who had helped the school make huge improvements in such a short space of time.

Mrs Wright, who took her first headteacher post at the school in September 2012, said: “We were really delighted with the outcome. It has been a team effort and I have great staff who have all worked so hard.

“St Mary’s is a small school, but has a great community. Everyone’s really supportive and we have worked really hard to improve standards and it is great to have that validation.

“We have all had to pull together.

“The teaching and learning has dramatically improved and we make sure we are challenging pupils.”

Ofsted recommended some improvements could be made to teaching the children maths to help it achieve an outstanding rating in future.