A COMPREHENSIVE school has been given a glowing report by government inspectors.

Wolsingham School and Community College, in Weardale, is a successful school, said an Ofsted team, which visited last month.

Some teaching is excellent, while the school is well led and managed.

The sixth form was singled out for praise and was said to be well-managed and a strength of the school.

Chief inspector John Ashton wrote: "Pupils in the main school and students in the sixth form achieve well.

"The A* and A grades in the 2002 GCSE results were above average, illustrating the good provision for higher attaining pupils. Leadership and management are good. Pupils' attitudes, behaviour and relationships with each other, and with the staff, are good."

Geography teaching and learning was singled out for special praise, while links with the community, including partner schools, and provision for pupils' social and moral development, were all said to be very good.

The school values and cares well for all its pupils and offers a wide range of extra curricular activities, said the team.

But in French, where a senior teacher was absent through illness, provision was singled out as unsatisfactory.

Education plans for pupils with special education needs were "not as clear and helpful as they could be" and indoor provision for PE was also unsatisfactory.

Headteacher Mitch O'Reilly said: "The inspectors have highlighted our many strengths.