AN OVERSUBSCRIBED infant school has come top of the class following a recent inspection.

Every aspect of Christchurch Infant School was rated as ‘outstanding’ by government inspectors who spent two days there examining achievement, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

The school, which is based in Addiscoombe Road, is much larger than most infant schools – it has a total of five reception classes and four classes each in years 1 and 2, a total of 392 children.

The report praised the “inspiring leadership” of head teacher Jane Ashenden and said pupils made excellent progress at the school.

Inspectors said: “Pupils consistently achieve extremely well, many of them reaching the highest levels by the end of Key Stage 1. The quality of teaching in all classes is outstanding.

“Every opportunity is taken to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and to widen their view of the world. They enjoy all that school has to offer them.”

Inspectors observed 22 lessons and held meetings with pupils, staff and governors. They studied responses to questionnaires and looked at a range of documents.

They concluded: “The day-to-day organisation and all procedures are superb – they ensure that pupils’ learning is always the highest priority in this outstanding school.”