PUPILS are proud of Sharples School — and come in every morning “with smiles on their faces, looking forward to the day ahead”, according to school inspectors.

The government’s education watchdog found that the high school is one where pupils continue to achieve well and leave with above average grades in their GCSEs.

Ofsted marked the school as good with outstanding features.

Inspectors reported: “Students show immense pride in their school and comment ‘Everyone is equal here and we all look after each other’.

“Students enter the school in the morning with smiles on their faces, looking forward to the day ahead.”

All areas of the school were marked as good, with some teaching being graded as outstanding. Inspectors found that children from poorer backgrounds achieve better than their peers locally and nationally, with the achievement gap between them and better off pupils reducing by 12 per cent in one year.

And a much greater proportion of children with learning difficulties reach the standard of achieving five or more good GCSEs including English and maths than those locally or nationally.

Inspectors added: “Teachers have secure knowledge of their subjects, treat their students with dignity and respect and are always willing to share good and exemplary classroom practice with their colleagues across the school.

“The leadership and management of teaching is a strength of the school and have ensured that classroom practice has improved markedly since the previous inspection.”

Areas for improvement included improving attendance, which is in line with the national average, and to continue to raise students’ achievement.

Headteacher Rachel Quesnel said: “We’ve had another year of excellent exam results with 95 per cent of our pupils achieving five or more A* to C GCSE grades.

“Receiving a good rating from Ofsted for the second time in three years is testimony to the hard work of pupils and staff. I am delighted with the report as it acknowledges the excellent progress Sharples pupils continue to make in all subjects, particularly in maths, English and science.

“I am especially pleased that inspectors praised the respectful and harmonious ethos of the school which is reinforced by our code of conduct — courtesy, co-operation, consideration and common sense. With our relentless focus on raising standards here at Sharples School, I think we are well on the way to being recognised as an outstanding school.”