Bourne Abbey Primary School has been officially recognised as "outstanding" after a visit by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) inspectors at the end of November and almost every area of the school scored top marks in the report published this week.

Headteacher Cherry Edwards was delighted and said: "We are exceptionally proud of our school and what has been achieved.

"Above all we are proud of our pupils. They are the stars of the school and of this report. The comments in the report pay tribute to their joy and love of learning."

Bourne Abbey is one of only 12 schools in Lincolnshire to have been rated as outstanding and Roger Fry's inspection report is a catalogue of compliments to staff, governors and pupils.

He said: "Pupils behave extremely well and make the most of what the school offers...They look forward to school, bring a great sense of goodwill and a desire to be part of everything."

The report states that "pupils make exceptional progress overall because the curriculum is so well organised and the teaching excellent" and highlights Mrs Edwards' "exceptional leadership". The only area found for improvement was that the boys could be even better writers.

John Kirkman, chairman of the governors said: "We are delighted that this Ofsted inspection has resulted in a report that publicly recognises the outstanding ethos and education at Bourne Abbey.

"It bears out the confidence we have in the leadership and vision of the headteacher Mrs Edwards and the hard work, skills and passionate commitment of the whole leadership team, teachers, support staff, parents and governors."

Town and county councillor Mark Horn wrote to The Local saying "Bourne Abbey is an exceptional school led by an inspirational headteacher.

"It is a school of whom all of us in Bourne are very proud."