Imagine a school where the pupils are “very polite and helpful. Where they work conscientiously and always try to do their best.

“Where they show respect for adults and each other and contribute greatly to making the school a purposeful and cheerful learning environment.”

Government inspectors from Ofsted believe they found such a school – on a visit to Outwell on the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.

In fact so taken were the inspectors they have given Beaupre Community School (and of course its staff and 166 pupils) the highest possible rating, describing the behaviour of pupils as “outstanding”.

Lead inspector Steven Hill says in his report that pupils “have outstandingly positive attitudes to their education. They take a delight in learning and persevere, even work is difficult.

“They work extremely well together, challenging and supporting each other to do well and enjoying their own and their classmates’ success”.

Team working among pupils under pin their success, says his report, and older pupils believe their “brilliant” teachers are the best thing about the school.

“They say lessons are fun and that they learn a lot,” concluded the Ofsted team. “One said that the recent work on algebra was some of the most enjoyable of the year.”

On safety of pupils the Ofsted team also found a school which they could rate as “outstanding” in the ways its keeps them safe.

“Pupils have learned about different kinds of bullying and how to deal with it,” says Ofsted. “They say it is very rare and a group of pupils from year 3 could only think of one instance, which had been dealt with very quickly by adults.”

In achievement, quality of teaching and leadership and management the school got a “good” rating from Ofsted signalling a huge turnaround in fortunes.

Two years ago when inspectors visited Beaupre they gave it the thumbs down, informing both the governors and staff it was a school which requires improvement.