THE Dartmoor Federation of Schools is celebrating, as all four of its primary schools have been rated as good in their latest Ofsted reports.

The federation's five schools, made up of Exbourne Primary, Boasley Cross Primary, Lydford Primary, Bridestowe Primary and Okehampton College, have all recently had their Ofsted inspections carried out.

All four primary schools received a rating of good, receiving a good ranking in all four areas of inspection — achievement of pupils, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

Linda Wells, headteacher at both Boasley Cross Primary and Lydford Primary said: 'The inspections have just ratified and validated the forming of the federation. All five schools have moved so far forward together since the federation was formed, and a lot of that has come about because of our working together.

'The federation was formed with the thought of what we can provide for our children, and Ofsted have said that it is good practice.

'I think it is safe to say all five schools are very pleased with our reports, especially considering the harder criteria put forward by Ofsted.

'For Lydford Primary, we were pleased that inspectors recognised how we teach children by stage, rather than their age.

'We try to stretch the more able pupils, and offer more support to those who need it.

'At Boasley Cross, our provision for children in the early years stage was seen to be outstanding.

'It is nice to know we give our children the best of starts to their education.'

Uniting under a single governing body, the Dartmoor Federation allows the schools to share expertise and resources across the schools while allowing each school to maintain its own individual identity.

It also allows scope for 'cross-phase' planning, structuring a child's education from entry at primary school through to the completion of their secondary education at Okehampton College.

Mike Brady, headteacher at Bridestowe Primary, said: 'Aspects of the collaborative work between the four schools was highlighted in each of our reports, and the success of all four schools in the face of harder Ofsted criteria shows that the collaboration and unity of the federation is working well for all our schools.

'We are delighted that Bridestowe Primary was recognised as strongly inclusive, with high expectations of our pupils and a good culture of learning.'

Alison Ewen, headteacher of Exbourne Primary, said: 'One hundred percent of the parents asked would recommend the school.

'That speaks volumes about what we are doing, and our teaching was rated as good, sometimes outstanding.

'It was a very pleasing report, and great to see the schools in the federation thriving.'

Daryll Chapman, principal of Okehampton College, whose own recent Ofsted report was rated outstanding, said: 'There are not many cross-phase federations like ours.

'It is a little like heading into the unknown, but the successes at all five schools prove it is the right thing to be doing.'

While each primary school was commended for its performance, all four were given areas on which to improve.

At Exbourne, inspectors said 'support and monitoring of teaching, including promoting high quality practice from across the federation, have not been sharp enough to promote more outstanding teaching.' Pupils at Lydford 'are not always challenged to produce enough when they write extended piece of work', while at Boasley Cross 'there is not enough outstanding teaching to ensure that pupils' learning is outstanding, especially in mathematics'. Bridestowe Primary was told 'standards achieved in writing are not as high as those achieved in reading and mathematics.'

Alison Ewen said: 'The federation has strengthened the maintenance of these four rural schools, and secured the future of them moving forward. Now we will keep working to keep at a high level and keep improving.'