ONE of Bristol's largest secondary schools has been rated outstanding by education watchdogs.

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School is one of the first in the country to gain the top marks from Ofsted under its latest tough framework.

Instead of a large number of separate judgements, inspectors now rate a school on four areas – achievement of pupils, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

The Church of England-run St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School was judged outstanding in all four categories, resulting in an overall outstanding judgement.

Lead inspector Karl Sampson said it was "an outstanding school with an ethos of high aspiration and success for all, underpinned by a dynamic culture of learning and continuous improvement".

Five inspectors visited the 1,514-pupil school in Redcliffe last month, at two days' notice.

Their report said: "Excellent relationships at all levels have helped to establish a cohesive, purposeful and happy community where behaviour is excellent and all are able to learn and thrive in an atmosphere of respect and dignity.

"Teaching is outstanding. Learning moves along briskly, questions are probing and tasks are creative, imaginative and challenging. As a result, students' interest is captured and they articulate ideas fluently and with confidence.

"Students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is exceptional in all aspects, and is a strong feature in many lessons and aspects of the curriculum."

Ofsted praised the sixth form, noting that a rising number of students had secured Oxbridge offers.

Head Elisabeth Gilpin said: "Our students were a real credit to the school over the two days of the inspection and showed the inspectors their genuine enthusiasm for learning and doing their best. I was proud that the inspectors noticed how well all of us work as a team and value each other at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School.

" I was also delighted that the inspectors saw how our Christian ethos underpins everything about the school. I felt that the inspectors saw the school as it really is and got to the heart of our success as a learning community."

Chairman of governors Dr Simon Bale said: " The past few years have been ones of extraordinarily hard work for all staff, having to cope with the move into our new building in addition to all the challenges of a busy school.

"Students have performed so well, reaching even higher levels of success. Now, to be given an outstanding judgement by Ofsted is the icing on the cake."