INSPIRING and enthusiastic teachers, well-behaved pupils and a friendly atmosphere is how Ofsted inspectors described Nailsworth's Acorn School.

Staff, parents and pupils at the Steiner School are celebrating after being classed as 'very good, with many strengths'.

Inspectors who visited in June praised pupils' attitudes and said youngsters were made to feel valued and respected. "The consistent quality of the teaching and the assessments which inform it are strengths of the school. The staff have very high expectations to which all pupils respond very well," said the report.

"The distinctive curriculum is strong in the creative and expressive arts and is greatly enriched by extra-curricular activities and residential visits. As one pupil expressed it 'at Acorn they don't just teach you to learn they teach you to love learning'."

The 122 pupils, aged between three and 19, follow a curriculum based on the work of education pioneer Rudolph Steiner and do not follow the national curriculum or sit external examinations.

Head teacher and school founder Graeme Whiting said: "We are extremely confident in our approach to education. Our ethos is simple - we respect and treasure childhood and adolescence.

"We are not distracted by the pressure of external examinations, but follow a consistent curriculum that takes into account the intellectual, moral and emotional needs of our students at all times during their development. And as the report so rightly highlights, the quality and dedication of teachers here is outstanding."