THERE is something to celebrate at Parkend School as Ofsted has rated them "good".

The news comes as a huge relief, as the school has been working hard to improve its "satisfactory" rating they received two years ago.

Executive headteacher, Simon Lusted praised his staff and govenors for their hardwork after the school received a positive Ofsted inspection report.

He said: "This is an excellent achievement following on from a satisfactory judgement in January 2011, especially as the new Ofsted framework introduced in September 2012, has made it harder for schools to be either good or outstanding.

"The inspector reported that the school had made good progress since the last inspection with pupils making outstanding progress in reading."

Parkend was also top of the Forest of Dean league tables for results in KS2 in 2012 and third in the whole of Gloucestershire.

He continued: "The school has made significant progress in maths which was a key area for improvement and standards are making accelerated progress. Teaching was judged good overall with some outstanding teaching seen in KS2."

Simon who is also the headteacher at Lybrook Primary was praised by Ofsted for his 'strategic leadership' which they said '...has enabled the school to maintain its distinctive features of a small school whilst improving the quality of teaching and the administrative functions of the school.'

Simon added: "I am very pleased with the overall report and feel that as a school we have made great strides. I thank both the staff and Governors in embracing the change to ensure improvement and for the hard work put in by all. The collaboration between the two schools goes from strength to strength with increasing opportunities for pupils, staff and Governors to work more closely together."