A PUPIL referral unit has maintained its ‘good’ reputation.

Smannell Field School, formally Andover Education Centre, was visited by Ofsted on December 6 last year, for a short inspection after it was judged ‘good’ in March 2015.

The centre, in Smannell Road, is part of the Hampshire Education Inclusion Service and is for students who have been permanently excluded from mainstream schools or who are at risk of permanent exclusion.

In a letter to headteacher Amanda Edney published in December, Ofsted said: “The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

“You and other leaders provide pupils with a friendly, welcoming and calm environment in which to learn.

“The high aspirations that staff have for all pupils are clear and the mutual respect between pupils and staff is evident throughout the school.”

Inspectors highlighted that pupils behave well, work very hard and are keen to learn.

“They are engaged during their lessons and are positive about the future,” the letter added.

The school was lauded for the progress that pupils continue to make, which is said to reflect the aspirations of staff.

“As a result of the work of your early intervention, outreach and wellbeing teams, pupils make excellent progress with their social and emotional wellbeing, behaviour, attendance and resilience.”

Safeguarding at the school was also deemed effective, with communications systems in place so “any concerns are identified and acted on swiftly so that pupils remain safe”.

Inspectors said that the next steps were to ensure all teachers “use assessment information effectively to inform planning so that all pupils are provided with a consistently appropriate level of challenge in lessons.”