Stonehenge School headteacher Andrew Packer celebrates the glowing Ofsted report with some of his pupils. Picture by LARA BALL DA5222Stonehenge School has gained full marks following a recent Ofsted inspection.

The inspectors heaped praise on standards of teaching, pupils' achievements, and their attitudes and behaviour - giving the school a glowing report.

Their findings recognised the improvements children make at the Amesbury comprehensive and said the school benefited from the outstanding leadership of the management team, including headteacher Andy Packer.

Other strengths include the way pupils are looked after, their personal development, and their links with parents and the community.

"This is a fantastic report," said Mr Packer. "One of the registered inspectors said it was only the second time since 1993 that he had come across a school where all teaching was satisfactory or better.

"The number of lessons that were excellent was twice the national average and they were very impressed with the support we give to children with special needs."

These high standards of teaching have already been reflected in GCSE results at the Antrobus Road school, with the number of pupils achieving five or more A*-C grades rocketing from 38 per cent to 58 per cent in three years.

Stonehenge is also one of Wiltshire's top value-added schools, which marks the progress pupils make, and the inspectors said it provided "very good value for money".

They were also pleased with the number of extra-curricular activities on offer and noted that behaviour had improved significantly since the previous Ofsted visit.

The report did identify some areas for improvement, including the small science laboratories, a limited choice of vocational courses and the lack of a daily collective worship.

Inspectors also found some subjects did not identify the most gifted and talented students to give them a curriculum that better suited their abilities and aspirations.

"The Ofsted report did not bring up one area that we were not already aware of through our rigorous self-evaluation," said Mr Packer.

"I have already had discussions with the county council about the science accommodation."

Mr Packer says there were many factors in the school's success, including an excellent team of governors and children taking a pride in Stonehenge.

"Everybody involved with the school should have a real sense of satisfaction with what we have achieved," he said.

"This is obviously a great school but complacency is not in our vocabulary.

"We have very high hopes for our pupils taking GCSEs this year and I think all credit must go to our excellent teaching staff."