A SCHOOL which opened just three years ago has aced its first Ofsted report which said the welfare of pupils was outstanding.

Inspectors said children’s behaviour was also outstanding after they visited Braiswick Primary, Colchester.

The overall rating for the 237-pupil school was good and its Early Years provision, which is its reception class, was rated outstanding.

The £7 million building in Apprentice Drive opened in 2015 after Essex County Council said there was a demand for more school places in Colchester.

Inspector Marios Solomonides also said parents were “overwhelmingly positive” about the school.

Pupils’ attitudes to learning were described in the report as “exceptional”.

Head teacher Lorraine Laudrum said: “We feel our first inspection report is a strong foundation on which we can build and continue to improve.”

Inspectors assessed five main areas of which two were outstanding - the early years provision and the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils.

The early years provision, for four and five-year-olds, was described as “exemplary”.

It is led by the school’s deputy head teacher Nicola Whybrow.

She was was praised for having an exceptional oversight of that area, which is “outstandingly well led and managed”.

The personal development, behaviour and welfare category stated: “Pupils are proud of their school and of each other.

“They enjoy their own successes and those of their classmates.

“For example, when a pupil was contributing lots of adjectives during a lesson, another pupil complimented her performance and enthusiastically said: ‘She’s on fire’.”

The other three areas were the effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for pupils. These were rated Good.

Mrs Laudrum added: “We are grateful to the whole school community for their dedication and for working so hard over the past three years to establish a thriving school from new.”

Inspectors said: “Despite the challenges of establishing a new school, including, for example, the continuous influx of pupils, leaders are clear in their resolve to raise standards.

“Leaders ensure the induction of new pupils to the school is planned well and teachers find out what these pupils know as quickly as possible to ensure that they make good progress from the outset.”

They added: “Mobility is high and pupils arrive at different points during the year. The school is expanding rapidly.”

The school has capacity for 420 pupils and is sponsored by the Learning Pathways Trust.

To improve, the school has been told pupils should be given more opportunities to apply their literacy and numeracy skills in subjects, other than English and maths.