A Newbury primary school has high hopes for the future, as it aims to come out of special measures in just over a year's time

Head Teacher of the Willows in Greenham, Alex Butler, says this new school year is about turning things around: "There's no joking, we are in special measures. But we have done quite a lot of staff training this week, we have got a full complement of staff, we have had no staff members leave which is fantastic news for The Willows - a lot of consistency.

"We have to go through procedures to get out of a category, so we can't just get out in three or four months, it is a year's job at least. Our aim really is to be the People's Choice School for Newbury in a year's time. And for our children we want them to get the best possible experience from school and education".

The news comes as hundreds of five year olds across West Berkshire head home from their first day at school today.

45 children started at the Willows Primary School this morning but Alex says it can often be more stressful for the parents: "Most of our children have done five or six induction visits in the Summer term. And so they are used to our routines, they know what we expect, they know how to line up - so they are ready to go, they are happy.

"The parents however, there was a little bit of anticipation in the playground. If it's your eldest child coming to school, school is very different now to how it was when parents were at school twenty or thirty years ago. And some parents didn't have a positive time at school so it's a bit scary for them".