Teachers and students at All Hallows Catholic School and Sixth Form College are celebrating following yet another successful Ofsted report.

Inspectors who carried out a ‘light touch review’, a method used in successful schools that have recently been inspected, ranked the school in Weybourne Road, Weybourne, ‘outstanding’ in 32 of the 52 criteria examined and ‘good’ in the rest.

The curriculum and students’ personal development were among those labelled ‘outstanding’, the highest rating an Ofsted inspector can bestow upon a school.

Academic standards achieved by many of the 11 to 16 year old school pupils in Years 7 to 11 were significantly above the national average.

Sixth form students’ progress was good, particularly among those doing the Vocational Certificate for Education.

Inspectors were impressed by the extensive participation in music, art, drama and dance, the school’s cultural development and its ability to celebrate and embrace the strong Nepalese community in the area.

The quality of teaching and learning in the school section was also marked ‘good’.

Of its pupils, the report said: “Their responses to presentations by Nepalese students on Nepal and the celebration of the Chinese New Year and religious festivals showed their thorough enjoyment and appreciation.

“Students’ personal development is outstanding.

“They clearly grow in confidence as they grow older; they are reflective and thoughtful and develop a better under-standing of themselves and others.”

The school’s pastoral care, its atmosphere and pupils’ behaviour in classrooms were also praised.

The report added: “An outstanding feature is the way in which students of other faiths are made to feel welcome in the school but draw on Catholic ethos to help them grow as people.

“The way in which the students are cared for is outstanding. Students adopt safe practices and feel safe.

“Behaviour in class is generally excellent; there are a few exceptions which are dealt with well. Bullying and other forms of intimidation are also dealt with effectively.”

Extra-curricular provision was recognised as “extensive”.

The leadership of the school was praised, with a special tribute paid to headteacher Elizabeth Lutzeier.

The report said: “The quality of leadership and management is good, with outstanding features.

“The first of these is the high quality leadership provided by the headteacher.

“This is critical to the success of the school.”

Criticism was made at the level of progress pupils were making in Key Stage 3 (age 11-14) and Key Stage 4 (14-16).

Addressing pupils directly, lead inspector Paul Armitage wrote: “There is one area where we and your teachers feel you could improve.

“You have very good GCSE results but the statistics suggest that some of you could be doing even better.

“This is something you need to explore.”

Both inspectors and teachers noted a need for pupils to be encouraged to use their initiative, or “given more opportunities to pose their own questions and find out the answers”.

Mrs Lutzeier said she was “thrilled” that once again the school had received a really good report.

She added: “It is a tribute to the hard work of all our staff, teachers and support staff.

“It is also a recognition of the wonderful children we have at All Hallows and the support we receive from their parents.

“We believe that we are already a very good school and our aim now is to be outstanding in absolutely every aspect of school life.”