TEACHERS and students at Stonehenge School in Amesbury are celebrating being given a good rating by Ofsted inspectors.

A report published last week rates the school as good in all categories.

Inspectors said students achieve well and make good progress in almost all subjects including maths and English, attaining broadly average GCSE results from often low starting points.

Teaching is described as mostly good, sometimes outstanding, and good provision is made for teachers to continue to improve their skills. The report adds: “Students behave well because expectations of them are clear and they receive good care and support. Exclusions have reduced in recent years and attendance has improved.”

Inspectors said headteacher Nigel Roper and other senior leaders provide “very effective leadership that has contributed substantially to improvements”.

“They have a clear plan for success and the sense of purpose is shared across the school,” it adds.

The school is not yet rated as outstanding as inspectors said not enough teaching is of consistently high quality to enable students to make rapid progress, and in some lessons there is insufficient challenge for some students to extend their knowledge and apply their skills.

Mr Roper said: “A strong sense of community is extremely important to me. We think we provide a high quality, 21st century education but in a school which is in many ways traditional.

“The traditional values of good manners, smart uniform, respect for authority, good behaviour and getting on well with each other and being friendly are as important as qualifications. They all matter and it’s about getting all of those things in place.”

“The message is you will do as well here as anywhere else,” he added.

Mr Roper said the school will be full by 2018 to 2020 due to population increase in Amesbury, and he is currently working with the local authority to find a suitable site for a new school.

“There is a lot of optimism and excitement around the community,” he added. “There are jobs coming by the thousand, more than a thousand homes and potentially a new secondary school by the end of the decade,” he said.