THE first Forest school to be tested under a new tough Ofsted regime has passed with flying colours.

Whitecross School in Lydney was chosen as a pilot for a controversial new inspection system which makes it harder for schools to get good or outstanding ratings.

But after visiting last month, Ofsted concluded that Whitecross was a good school that is getting better all the time and has some outstanding features.

The tough new regime gives schools hardly any notice, doubles the amount of time inspectors spend in the classroom and relies more on exam results.

When the inspectors called headteacher David Gaston was on secondment but Ofsted said Sue Brearley was managing well and the break strengthened the school by giving managers more experience.

They concluded that Whitecross had improved and addressed any past weaknesses with staffing changes and improved training.

Teaching is mainly good and the school achieves satisfactory GCSE results even though pupils are below average attainment when they arrive at the age of 11.

Excellent links with Forest firms and an outstanding curriculum mean the school meets the interests and aspirations of virtually all students.

Pupils are well behaved, have excellent relationships with staff and the school was described as a "highly cohesive community."

Headteacher David Gaston said: "It has been a real team effort to keep our school moving forward, ensuring that Whitecross continues to deliver the standard of education our community deserves.

"We are delighted to have maintained our overall grade of "good" and increased the number of areas judged to be outstanding – especially given that the criteria we were judged against are now more rigorous than ever before."