IMPECCABLY behaved pupils, strong leadership and committed governors have helped a West Somerset school secure a 'good' grade from Government inspectors.

St Dubricius First in Porlock received the second highest rating in its Ofsted inspection for the achievement of pupils, quality of teaching, leadership and management and overall effectiveness.

And lead inspector Anna Sketchley awarded it the top grade - outstanding - for the behaviour and safety of pupils.

Ms Sketchley said the school had made good improvements since the last inspection in 2010, especially in the provision for early years children in both reception and nursery classes.

The strong leadership and vision of headteacher Chris Blazey was said to be driving forward further improvement.

The inspection concluded that pupils made good progress from their starting points and by the time they reached year four, standards in reading were above average.

Teaching was deemed to be good overall but outstanding in early years, with strong relationships existing between teachers and pupils.

Meanwhile, the provision for those with special needs was said to be exceptionally well organised, with any gaps in attainment and progress between them and other groups of pupils closing.

Behaviour was described as impeccable in lessons, around the school building, in the well-run after-school club and in the playground.

"Pupils behave impeccably at all times and play well together," said Mrs Sketchley.

"They say they feel very safe in school and bullying is exceptionally rare."

St Dubricius was said to benefit from the strong partnerships it had forged with external agencies, which significantly enriched pupils' learning and personal development.

And there was also praise for the governors, with Mrs Sketchley describing their wide variety of skills from the world of work and their knowledge of the school's strengths and areas for development enabling them to challenge to school to improve.

"Their commitment and support of the school and their ability to fulfil their statutory duties is exemplary," she said.

The inspection concluded that St Dubricius was not yet an outstanding school because although teaching was good, more needed to be outstanding.

Mrs Sketchley said pupils' first-hand experiences were not used sufficiently to practise their writing skills, while some maths tasks were not sufficiently challenging for middle and higher ability pupils.

The only other area for improvement identified was the need to ensure that pupils could judge for themselves how much they had learned by the end of each lesson.

Mr Blazey said he was delighted that St Dubricius had been validated as a 'good' school under the extremely challenging new Ofsted framework.

"I felt that Mrs Sketchley clearly identified our many strong points, along with the commitment of all our staff and governors.

"Ofsted also recognised the high level of support we receive from our parents and local community, as well as our hugely beneficial collaboration with the Exmoor Coast Federation partner schools.

Chairman of governors Martina Forster said the governors were really pleased that Ofsted had appreciated their role as 'critical friends'.

"We fully share the school's aims of maintaining and further improving standards and of valuing all of our children and ensuring that they reach their full potential within a safe and caring environment."