A NEWPORT school is celebrating after being awarded an ‘excellent’ rating in four out of five categories by the education watchdog Estyn.

Rougemont School, in Malpas Road, underwent an inspection in November 2016.

And, on Friday, it was awarded the top grade – excellent – in the categories ‘standards’, ‘wellbeing and attitudes to learning’, ‘care support and guidance’ and ‘leadership and management’.

The independent school also gained a good rating for ‘teaching and learning experiences’.

A previous inspection was carried out at the site in 2012, and found the school to be “amongst the highest performing schools in Wales”.

The latest inspection result said pupils had continued to make “strong progress and achieve outstanding outcomes in public examinations”, and that “teachers have strong working relationships with pupils and plan interesting lessons”.

It added that the pupils’ behaviour “in class and around the school is exemplary and “all staff have a strong commitment” to aiding pupils to achieving the “highest potential”.

Robert Carnevale, the headmaster at Rougemont, said: “To achieve our excellent grades in the new inspection process is a great achievement.

“It is a true credit to the hard work of all our staff, and indeed the commitment of our pupils.

“We are able to say we truly do offer excellence in the whole educational process.

“As we tell our children to aim to achieve their highest potential, so we strive for the school to do the same.

“While these inspection results are extremely positive we will strive to maintain and indeed improve upon these results.”

He added: “We also continue to look to the future with our school improvement plan, a key focus to ensure both the education and environment we offer pupils and staff is the best it can be.”

For more information on Rougemont School, call 01633 820800 or visit http://rougemontschool.co.uk/