A SCHOOL where nearly half the pupils have learning difficulties is celebrating after inspectors gave it a clean bill of health.

Cherry Tree Primary, in Holt Drive, Colchester, has been rated satisfactory in its latest Ofsted report, and its provision for younger children was judged to be good.

Staff were also praised for their work with pupils who have statements of special educational needs.

Headteacher Sandra Short said: “We were delighted the Ofsted team identified the many positive features and agreed with our analysis of areas for further development.”

The school achieved only the third-best out of the four Ofsted rankings – outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate.

But the inspectors acknowledged teachers were working in “complex and sometimes challenging circumstances”.

Cherry Tree Primary has such a high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties because its special language unit attracts youngsters with speech problems from across the area. Also, 40 per cent of children are from underprivileged backgrounds and qualify for free school meals.

Ofsted found a recent drive to improve literacy had reaped success in the reception class and Years 1 and 2, and the school generally was “a happy place, in and out of the classroom”.

A multi-sensory approach to learning and a lively pace helped to draw in even the most “hard-to-reach” special needs pupils.

Many children who were of below-average ability when they joined the school, were broadly average by the time they finished Year 2.

The inspectors said the school needed to improve further by seeking to achieve a similarly positive impact in English from Years 3 to 6.

Ofsted also rated the school satisfactory after its previous visit, in 2007.