A SCHOOL where one in 10 pupils is from the Irish travelling community has been praised for the way it works with children from different backgrounds.

New Hinksey Primary School, in Vicarage Lane, South Oxford, has been rated ‘good’ by inspectors Ofsted — three years after receiving a lower ‘satisfactory’ inspection.

As well as being congratulated for bringing travellers into the school community, a survey of 45 parents by the inspectors found that they all believed their children enjoyed and felt safe at school.

Headteacher Charlotte Haynes said: “We have worked very hard on improving the quality of teaching and learning in each of the individual classes.

“We have diversified and enriched the curriculum and we try to use visiting speakers, trips and visits to make it more interesting and dynamic.”

In the report, inspector Nick Butt described the school as “like a village school in the heart of the city” and said it was particularly successful in making sure pupils from the Irish traveller community made good progress.

Mrs Haynes said the school worked closely with the traveller education service and used resources, such as books featuring traveller families, with all children. She added: “We also do things like have traveller art and cookery activities and contribute to Traveller History Month.

“We try to really engage with the traveller parents, and we have lots of mums who come in and help, for example, when we celebrate St Patrick’s Day.”

The school was criticised in one area — for attendance.

Mrs Haynes admitted the bulk of the unauthorised absences were down to traveller families taking leave.

She said: “For travellers, they have really good attendance, coming to school 70 to 80 per cent of the time — but that is below the expectation of 95 per cent for all children.

“Sometimes they are travelling in Ireland when there are births, deaths and marriages in the traveller community, and that takes three or four days out of school because rites of passage are a very important part of their culture.”

But she said the school was taking a stricter approach to term-time holidays.

In terms of raising achievement, she said the school had introduced individual targets for every child, shown with a chart on the wall in the form of a pirate ship with each target achieved marking another step towards a treasure chest.

Pupils Sophie Edmonds-Seal, nine, and Nye Bates, nine, praised their school.

Sophie said: “I like the way the teachers are very caring.”

Nye said: “The teachers are really enthusiastic.”

fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk