A VILLAGE school can call itself one of the best in Herefordshire after being rated Outstanding following an inspection.

Ofsted lauded praise on the "inspirational leaders and governors" at Canon Pyon CE Academy after raising the school grade to the highest possible level.

Following a two-day inspection last month, the school was rated Outstanding in every category with lead inspector Mark Sims praising the school's leadership.

"Inspirational leaders and governors have ensured that teaching and outcomes for pupils have continued to improve strongly," he said.

"They have successfully tackled, with determination, the challenge to make sure pupils do as well in writing as they do in other subjects. Through systematic monitoring, training and the introduction of new strategies based on talking about their writing, pupils in all year groups are now making very rapid progress across all subjects."

A statement from headteachers Peter Box and Paul Whitcombe, and deputy head Alison Taylor, said: "This success is a reflection of everyone’s hard work and we are all delighted with the outcome and are extremely proud of the children."

During its last inspection, in November 2012, the school was rated Good.

This time around the 60-pupil school has improved further with teaching described as the backbone to the school's success.

"Teachers make sure that work is planned very well to take account of pupils’ different starting points, especially as pupils are placed in mixed-age classes from Year 1 upwards," said Mr Sims.

"Teachers are skilful at asking thought-provoking and challenging questions to extend the learning of the most able pupils.

"They have ensured that all pupils, both boys and girls, make very rapid progress in writing by providing activities that enable them to produce a wide range of extended pieces of writing ranging from non-chronological reports to fictional stories. They have successfully motivated pupils to write at length with sustained concentration."

To further improve, school leaders were asked to ensure teaching and support staff are well trained to meet the needs of any new arrivals who speak English as an additional language.