STAFF, governors and the pupils at Prestwich Community High School are celebrating after receiving all-round praise from Ofsted inspectors.

The Heys Road school has shown great improvement in many areas since its last inspection in 1996 and reaps excellent benefits from its relationship with the community.

The leadership provided by headteacher, Mrs Margaret Booler, and her senior staff was described as "good", 99 per cent of lessons were "satisfactory" while the pupils' GCSE results were "well above the average" compared to similar schools.

Inspector, Mr John Paddick, who led the Ofsted team, comments at the start of his report: "The school is effective . . . GCSE results are well above average compared to those achieved in similar schools.

However, while across the board teaching enjoyed a near 100 per cent "satisfactory" rating, only four per cent of lessons were "very good" and the proportion of "good" and "very good" teaching was deemed below average for the country as a whole.

Since the last inspection report in 1996, Mr Paddick added: "The school has done well to maintain its broadly average GCSE standards in spite of admitting gradually more challenging intakes. Teaching has improved." He said the links with parents are satisfactory overall but added: "However, they do not provide much practical support to the school and its work."

Commenting on the report, Mrs Booler, said: "We are delighted that Ofsted have recognised the many successes of our school and I am proud of the commitment and hard work of both staff and pupils.

"We shall now use this report as a springboard to achieve even more success in the future."