PUPILS and staff at a small village primary school in Ryedale are celebrating after inspectors rated their school “good”.

With 67 pupils on roll, Leavening School in Leavening near Malton is much smaller than many primaries, but when Ofsted inspectors visited before half term with only two days notice, they found that the pupils’ motto “small school, but big learning” summed up their achievements.

In their report, inspectors noted that the school was good with the quality of teaching being consistently good with some outstanding.

A “good” rating from Ofsted is the second highest ranking behind the top grade of “outstanding”.

Lead inspector Lesley Clark, said: “Pupils behave well. They enjoy coming to school and their attendance is high.

Pupils enjoy playing with their friends and lessons are rarely interrupted because they are keen to learn and they respect their teachers and classmates.

“The school is a well-ordered, safe environment and older pupils are proud of their role in helping make it so.”