A PRIMARY school is celebrating its first ever "outstanding" Ofsted report – with its head teacher promising it will be "the first of many".

Parish Church CofE Junior School, in Warrington Road, Waddon, was awarded the top rating after a two-day visit from government inspectors last month.

Head David Morgan, who has been at the school since 2002, heaped praise on his staff and pupils.

He said: "In particular I am pleased with the inspectors' comments about the high level of teaching and the excellent standard of singing.

"Our choir has sung with The Sixteen (a London-based professional ensemble) and the school is a strong ambassador for Croydon music. I think the inspectors recognised what we do at Parish Juniors is very much a team effort and I am confident this is the first of many outstanding reports."

The Ofsted report commends the school for excellent student behaviour, morning assemblies which include "among the best singing we have heard in a junior school" and higher than average standards across all age groups.

It also gives high praise to student participation in the community, such as helping to restock the River Wandle with trout, "outstanding" teaching and high levels of care and support.

The main suggestions for improvement are for the school to use its "specialist expertise" on the staff team more widely and to ensure teachers do not talk for too long in lessons.

Mr Morgan said: "Of course we will take the recommendations extremely seriously and continue to improve. Just because we have won top marks doesn't mean we are going to sit back and become complacent."

The inspection was carried out on May 5 and 6, when inspectors observed 12 teachers across 23 lessons, as well as meeting governors, parents, teachers and pupils.

Brian Evans, from Ofsted, said his team was "very impressed" with much of what they saw during their visit.

The school, which was founded in 1812, received an overall rating of "good" after its last Ofsted inspection in March 2007.

Dozens of Year 3 pupils at Parish Juniors released helium-filled balloons with messages tied to them last Friday.

The group of 90 seven and eight-year-olds are taking part in a geography project exploring the journey of the balloons and where they ended up.

Pieces of paper attached to the balloons have a message asking whoever comes across them to write back to the school with details of where they have landed.