A SOUTHEND school has been praised for its “warm and friendly ethos” after it maintained its “good” rating from Ofsted.

Inspectors visited Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, in Windermere Road, on July 9 and 10 before the summer holidays and a report published this week praised the supportive atmosphere created by teachers and students.

The primary school, which has 496 pupils, retained its “good” rating - the second highest possible rating - from its last inspection back in 2011.

The report stated: “The school has a warm and friendly ethos. Pupils respect their teachers and one another.

“Pupils show their support in a multitude of ways, from helping other learn lines for the school’s production to celebrating when a peer does well.

“Older pupils support younger ones when at play, taking them under their wing. Pupils appreciate difference.”

The positive observations didn’t end there, as the report further revealed how pupils trust adults to deal with concerns.

It added: “Pupils rise to adults’ high expectations of how to behave.

“Children in nursery sit beautifully on the carpet ready to learn. Their learning behaviours continue as they move through the school.

“Pupils listen closely to their teachers and are curious to know more. In social times, pupils trust adults to deal with concerns and friendship squabbles when they arise.”

At the time of the inspection there were 456 pupils at the school, all aged between three and 11.

Following the inspection report, headteacher Chris Beazeley said: “We are very happy to be judged as ‘good’ in all areas by external professionals.

“Inspectors recognised the happy children, excellent relationships and high morale of staff, reflecting our loving, Christian values, and the efforts that we make to be as good as we possibly can be.

“Our mission remains to continually improve, questioning all that we do in order to provide a great service for our community.

“I would like to thank the children and staff - former and present - for their hard work, not just on the two days of inspection but in all of those hundreds of days that add up to our school being recognised as a ‘good’ one.”