A HOOK infant school is celebrating after it was rated as "outstanding" by Ofsted.

Hook Infant School, in Church View, Hook has been awarded an "outstanding" rating from the education watchdog following an inspection on March 11 and March 12.

The Ofsted report praised the school, which has 273 pupils on roll, and its "very strong partnerships" with parents which contributes to the school's success.

The school managed to achieve an outstanding grade in all criteria which includes the leadership and management, the behaviour and safety of pupils and the quality of teaching.

The report said: "The headteacher provides outstanding leadership and is ably supported by the deputy headteacher. They have created a school where there is a strong drive to enable everyone to succeed.

"Senior leaders and staff make very regular and rigorous checks on pupils' progress. If any pupil falls behind for any reason, quick action is taken to remedy this."

Ofsted also rated the behaviour of pupils at the school as "outstanding", adding: "Relationships are excellent and pupils from different backgrounds get on extremely well together. Pupils are exceptionally polite with each other and staff.

"Pupils greet each other with smiles and say 'please' and 'thank you' without being reminded."

Melanie Walker, the school's headteacher of five years, said the school was "very happy" with the report and praised her staff.

Mrs Walker told The Gazette: "Credit must be given to staff and also children and parents because it is very much a three-way thing.

"We have got to have parents on board who are supportive to children who motivate them to learn and fantastic teaching to keep them wanting to learn."

She added: "It has been five years of hard work and the relentless quest for excellence in all areas has paid off.

"But, we must not sit back on our laurels. When working with children we can never rest because they are always onto the next thing so we are already thinking about the new entrants in September."