EDUCATION provision in Okehampton is at an all time high, as Okehampton College has just been graded as 'outstanding' in all areas of assessment.

Ofsted inspectors came to the college on January 14 and 15 to assess the college, and rated the school as outstanding in all four areas of their Ofsted report — achievement of pupils, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

The college's sixth form department was also rated as outstanding. It is the first time the college has ever achieved outstanding status.

The result is particularly exceptional given that Ofsted has recently changed its criteria, making it more difficult to gain outstanding status.

Okehampton College is one of only two schools in the county to be rated outstanding since the changes came into place on January 1.

Principal Daryll Chapman said that everyone connected with the college, including staff, students and parents, were 'delighted' with the result of the Ofsted report, and he described a 'massive sense of relief' at having all the school's hard work pay off so handsomely.

'We know it is more rigorous than any other Ofsted framework,' said Mr Chapman.

'At a time when a lot of schools are losing their outstanding judgement, for us to get it, speaks volumes for the work that has been going on at the college for the last few years.

'This isn't about what's happened in the last few months.

'It is about what has been happening at the school for the last four or five years, and definitely since the last Ofsted.

'It is a superb achievement for everybody connected with the college. It is an opportunity as a community to celebrate, because it has a knock-on effect.

'I've had a number of e-mails from parents already congratulating us, but also saying this has a tremendous impact for the town as well.

'With the primary school doing so well and the secondary school doing well, it is a very positive thing for the town to have our schools performing.

'We are absolutely delighted.'

In the report, the inspector said: 'All students make excellent progress from their generally below average starting points.

'The success of all students, whatever their particular needs or starting points, reflects the college's excellent promotion of equality of opportunity.

'Teachers have high expectations of students and plan demanding lessons.

'Teachers use questioning very well to find out what students have learned and to make them think.

'Students are proud to be members of the college and have an enthusiasm for learning which inspectors observed in many lessons. They encourage each other and listen to classmates' contributions, such as when evaluating each other's work in physical education.

'The behaviour of students is outstanding.

'They are polite and friendly to visitors and at all other times such as lunchtime.

'Students say that learning is very rarely, if ever, slowed by the misbehaviour of others.'

Mr Chapman said: 'All the effort and hard work that has gone into the school — this isn't about preparing for an Ofsted, it's about preparing the foundations and building blocks so we can just keep on building.

'The direction the school has been going in has meant that staff have all had confidence that the things we have been doing have been the right things.

'There's a danger with so much change in education that you could do a knee-jerk reaction to policy change.

'What we have here is a measured response to that. We are always reflecting on what we are doing, why we are doing it, and who are we doing it for.

'Everyone connected with the college works incredibly hard. But it also comes down to relationships.

'I really do believe that if the relationship between students and other students, and students and staff is on the whole very positive, then you can get a lot more done.

'You get a lot more done than if you are fighting that relationship.

'Sometimes we lose sight of that, and society loses sight of relationships being so critical.

'If you get on well with the youngsters, and they respect what you're doing — and I think they do here, because they realise you're doing it for them — then you will go on to achieve greater things.

'It gets tougher to maintain this level as time goes on.

'I think what we have here is knowing that we will never sit back.

'We'll never sit on our laurels and think 'we've done it'.'