RINGWOOD School has been praised by government inspectors for its high quality sixth form, with achievement, teaching and leadership all recognised as outstanding.

The school was graded a very strong ‘good’ with many outstanding features overall following a visit from the inspection team.

The inspection was carried out under the new Ofsted regime, which has raised the bar with the intention of making it much more difficult to achieve the highest grades in each area.

Ringwood School is a National Teaching Academy and is bigger than the average-sized secondary school with more than 1,620 students on roll, including 325 in the sixth form, catering for the 11 to 19 age range.

Headteacher Christina Edwards, pictured, said: “We are really pleased with the report, which clearly recognises the progress the school has made since the last inspection. Students’ behaviour was singled out for special praise by the team who said, ‘student behaviour is outstanding both in lessons and around the school. They talk positively about their school, are polite and welcoming and take considerable responsibility in school life’.”

“The report recognises the quality of the curriculum offered in the main school and sixth form together with the outstanding range of opportunities we provide to develop students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

“We offer a strong academic curriculum that is GCSE and A- Level based, very different to many schools. The lead inspector was very clear in his feedback to me that student achievement was well on the way to being outstanding under the new criteria”.