A STEINER school in Much Dewchurch has maintained its good Ofsted rating.

An Ofsted Inspector visited Hereford Steiner Academy in March for a short inspection after the school was judged to be good in July 2013.

The inspector said the school continued to be good and said "leaders seek continuously to make the school the best it can be."

The co-educational school is for children aged four to 16 - the Steiner Waldorf approach is based on the insight that children learn in different ways at different stages of their development.

The inspector, Sandra Hayes, said: "Leaders are deeply committed to the Steiner principles that underpin the school’s work.

"As a result, leaders have created an ethos that strongly promotes pupils’ personal development. Leaders ensure that pupils experience a broad, rich, interesting curriculum that emphasises the development of their physical and emotional well-being."

Ms Hayes said senior leaders keep a close eye on teaching and hold staff to account for its quality and identify any weaknesses.

The inspection also found: “From the point at which they begin formal schooling at around age seven, pupils make increasingly rapid progress and achieve well by the time they leave the school. The strong results achieved in GCSE examinations in recent years are likely to be sustained.”

Principal Stephen Holland said: "Contrary to current educational thinking, what we see in our school is that allowing a full experience of childhood, having a later start to formal learning and an age-appropriate curriculum rich in music, art, performance and the outdoors, in no way inhibits children’s academic development.

"In fact, our evidence suggests quite the opposite, that having a more creative approach to all learning prepares our young people to do very well academically, and actively fosters their healthy development as human beings.”

In 2008, the school became the first Steiner Waldorf school in the UK to become a state-funded academy.

The inspector said leaders have worked with the local authority to review the strength of the school’s safeguarding arrangements and the policy now fully reflects current government guidance.

Ms Hayes said weaknesses in the system remain which, while these do not put pupils at risk, mean that essential information is not readily available to those who may need it.