A POOLE primary school has been graded as good with outstanding features following a visit from Ofsted inspectors.

They had high praise for staff, governors and pupils at Bishop Aldhelm's with the behaviour and safety of young pupils given the top rating of outstanding.

The school, in Winston Avenue, Branksome, has 540 pupils between the ages of four and 11 and has been led by head teacher Neil Revell.

Mr Revell is leaving his post this summer to take up a new role as School Effectiveness Adviser for the Diocese of Salisbury to support the development of schools across the diocese.

The Ofsted report has just been published and Mr Revell and Chair of Governors Mandy Gridley said: "We are absolutely delighted that, within the context of a stringent Ofsted framework, Bishop Aldhelm’s has been judged to be a good school with outstanding features.

"This outcome truly is a wonderful testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone in our school community and we want to publicly thank each and every one of them for their constant determination, drive and passion to secure the very best opportunities for children."

Inspectors said: "All staff are highly committed to ensuring all pupils do as well as they can. Throughout the school, all groups of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

"Pupils behave extremely well and are keen to learn. They are unfailingly polite and enthusiastic.

"Pupils’ positive attitudes owe much to the school’s harmonious atmosphere, where the school’s core values of fairness, respect and tolerance are evident at every turn. "

They also said parents are very happy with the school and "have every confidence that their children are happy in school and cared for well."

They said the school is not yet outstanding because there are some weaknesses in teachers' use of questioning and marking and in how they set pupils targets for improvement. They also said more could be done in the early years to develop communication skills.