Outstanding improvement at St Peter's Catholic Primary school

St Peter’s Catholic Primary School in Oliver’s Battery rated just “satisfactory”

three years ago is now “outstanding,”

according to the lastest Ofsted report.

This puts it in the top 15 per cent of schools in the country.

Head teacher Catherine Howells said everyone at the 323-pupil school was delighted with the report.

She said: “It shows the massive amount of hard work teachers and children put in and it is well deserved.”

The 2009 Ofsted report, which has just been published, said pupils performed “outstandingly well in the core subjects of English, maths and science and in many key aspects of their personal development.”

Pupils’ behaviour was described as “exemplary” and “impeccable”.

The head teacher and governors were praised for their “very high quality of leadership”

while teaching was rated as “most often good”.

The school’s only areas for improvement are providing a wider range of learning opportunities for reception children and developing stronger links between subjects.

The report went on: “The school’s outstanding performance is due, in no small part, to its pupils’ strong work ethic which stems from a very strong Catholic ethos and the school’s success in developing its pupils as confident, caring and thoughtful learners.”

Little Fishes preschool also received a glowing report.

Mrs Howells, 49, said: “Winchester has lots of really good schools and they are all slightly different. I think the thing that makes us distinct is the spiritual life of the school.”