A NEWTON primary school put in a 'star' performance to achieve a prestigious Investors in People award in less than two months.

St Peter's CE Primary in Birley Street has become one of the first organisations in the St Helens area to achieve recognition under the new 'Strategic Review of Assessments and Recognitions' project - known as STAR. This pilot scheme offers organisations like schools who already use their own training procedures with a cost and time-effective way of getting Investors in People status.

Headteacher, Barbara Horsfall, said: "I was attracted to Investors in People as its values were closely linked to our own and the STAR project reduced the amount of portfolio building and cost of assessment considerably - which can often deter smaller organisations."

The school was given a one day assessment by the project organisers, St Helens Chamber, which included staff interviews and a look at how the school is run. And from there, a plan of action was drawn up with target areas which the school quickly reached.

Barbara added: "We are already reaping the benefits with better internal communication and more awareness of the school's role.

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