An ‘exceptional’ junior school previously told it required improvement has been given an outstanding rating by Ofsted.

Mount Pleasant Junior School in Bevois was given the highest rating by inspectors after an inspection on June 20 and 21.

Having been on the school’s governing body, Cllr Satvir Kaur, leader of Southampton City Council, announced the results.

READ MORE: PHOTOS: Memories of Mount Pleasant School during the Second World War

The report, which was seen by the Daily Echo, highlighted the role the school has in shaping the schools and praised the school for its child-centred ethos which helps children to flourish.

The report said: “Pupils thrive at this exceptional school. Leaders' ethos is to have 'the child at the centre of everything we do', and that is exactly what inspectors found.

“All staff are unwavering in their determination for every pupil to succeed. Leaders motivate pupils to strive for their very best and support them to reach their potential. As a result, pupils flourish and achieve highly.”

Daily Echo: Cllr Satvir Kaur.

The report praised the school’s atmosphere as ‘calm and purposeful’ and ‘vibrant and respectful'.

It also highlighted the setting’s curriculum and the leaders' attention to detail.

It said: “The school's curriculum is impressive. Leaders have paid meticulous attention to setting out the precise knowledge, skills, and key vocabulary that pupils need to learn along the way to ambitious endpoints.

“Leaders ensure that the curriculum is engaging and accessible to all pupils in this diverse community."

It adds: “Leaders have embedded highly efficient systems to identify any barriers to learning and ensure that teachers understand and know exactly how to support pupils' individual needs.”

The pupils’ behaviour was also found to be ‘exemplary’.

The report added: “Teachers overtly recognise pupils making the right choices.

“As a result, pupils are highly motivated and positive about their learning. They treat one another with the greatest respect and are excellent ambassadors for their school.”

Commenting, the leader of Southampton City Council said: "In Southampton we’re committed to children getting the best start in life.

"With now 83% of Southampton’s maintained schools rated good and outstanding, this recent result for Mount Pleasant Juniors, is great news for the school, the local community and our city, especially as it shows us giving the very best education in our most deprived neighbourhoods. 

"Having personally been a pupil at Mount Pleasant growing up, and recently on their Governing Body, I saw first-hand the hard work and dedication that went into this journey to an Outstanding result from Ofsted, which is an accolade to the team’s efforts. I wish them every success moving forward.”  

In a letter sent to parents, Headteacher Emma Karrigan-Draper said: “An outstanding school is not perfect or flawless and we continue to grow and develop everything that we do here at Mount Pleasant.

“An outstanding school is identified as being exceptional and I believe that this is an accurate description of our school because of our pupils, our families and our staff.”