Ref. 28697-20Three Swindon schools have won praise in the latest round of inspections. BHAVANI VADDE looks at what makes them stand out from the pack and what further work is needed.

GOVERNMENT inspectors have praised standards at three Swindon secondary schools.

Highworth Warneford School, Dorcan Technology College and Commonweal School all received good inspections from Ofsted.

The reports followed last week's performance tables showing Swindon schools are improving at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the country. But inspectors also criticised the standard of buildings at Warneford and Commonweal Schools.

Last June, a government report ranked schools in Swindon 142nd out of 150 local authorities with the borough having to pay £51 million to bring buildings up to scratch.

Keith Defter, chairman of the Swindon Association of Secondary Heads and headteacher at Commonweal School, said the reports were evidence education in Swindon was on the up.

"There is greater satisfaction with the outcomes because of the more rigorous inspection framework in place since September 2003," he said.

"The number of schools nationally which have been deemed to have serious weaknesses or worse has doubled in this period," he said.

Hilary Pitts, Swindon Borough Council director of education, said: "There are good improvements in the leadership and management in all schools.

"There are areas for improvement but it is clear the headteacher, staff, pupils and governors have worked extremely hard and are making a major contribution to improving the consistency and quality of education across Swindon."