THE headteacher at Castle Hill Junior School has been praised for his “inspirational leadership” by an education watchdog.

Following the latest Ofsted inspection, carried out under the new, tougher inspection regime, the school was given an overall grading of “good”. It had previously been rated as “outstanding” when inspectors visited in 2011.

The latest report praised leaders at the school and pupil behaviour, saying: “Leaders have created a school where respect and care for everyone are at the heart of everything it does. The school is an extremely harmonious community where pupils’ behaviour is outstanding.”

Achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and leadership at the school were all graded as “good” while pupil behaviour was graded as “outstanding.”

John Martin, headteacher of the school, which has 256 pupils, was praised by the team of three inspectors, with the report noting: “The long-standing headteacher provides inspirational leadership. He believes passionately that pupils should get the very best out of their education and works extremely hard to ensure they do.

“He has built a group of staff around him that totally subscribe to the values, beliefs and attitudes that he and the school promote.”

The junior school did not maintain its “outstanding” overall rating, partly because of a lack of progress in reading and writing levels by pupils in Years 3 and 4.

Mr Martin told The Gazette: “It was a very tough and demanding process, but we were delighted to see that the school has yet again been recognised for many of its outstanding features.”