Top of the class

8:25am Thursday 24th April 2008

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SHELDON School in Chippenham is the best comprehensive in the country but the accolade could come at a price.

Ofsted has classed the school outstanding in every way and confirmed this makes it the highest rated school of its type in the country.

Headteacher Gerard MacMahon is delighted at the achievement but a little worried the already well oversubscribed school will be inundated with requests from people outside the area.

He revealed he has already had one inquiry from a couple in London whose child is yet to be born.

Mr MacMahon said: "We are quite oversubscribed at the moment, with 70 on the waiting list, and this outstanding inspection report may increase demand.

"I hope we won't have to turn away more children - in the past when we've been oversubscribed there has been a fall in demand for places the following year as some parents are put off by the waiting list.

"We already get many queries from people moving into the area for good schools and I am often asked for advice on the best places to live to guarantee a place at Sheldon.

"I even had a call from a couple in London asking about our admissions criteria. When I asked how old their children were, I was told they weren't born yet.

"They were looking at the country's best secondary schools before they planned their family."

Sheldon was already the only comprehensive school in the country to be classed as outstanding on three separate occasions.

Mr MacMahon said: "It is rare for a school to be judged outstanding by Ofsted, but to be judged outstanding in all 38 categories is an exceptional achievement.

"Sheldon is the first Wiltshire school to achieve a perfect report and, in fact Sheldon's Ofsted record is now better than any other comprehensive in England."

He was pleased that the inspection team had picked out Sheldon's positive ethos.

"The outstanding achievements of children in exams are easy to measure and praise, but the inspectors were able to identify why the school is so successful," he said. "But we must keep our feet on the ground, we know that there are many ways in which we can improve."

The Ofsted report, which is published on Monday, praises the school's "highly effective leadership and management at all levels".

"The school has a strongly positive ethos and the students' behaviour, attitudes and relationships with teachers are excellent," it says.