Peter Johns, head of Tollgate Primary School, in Bury St Edmunds, also said Ofsted had 'raised the bar' recently – meaning his school may have narrowly missed out on a good rating.

But inspectors have told him pupil standards are below average – particularly in the three core subjects of English, maths and science.

Inspector Robert Mckeown said: "There are considerable strengths in the provision for pupils' personal development and in their pastoral care."

He said the school was friendly, pupils got on well together and behaviour was good.

But despite 'satisfactory progress' since the last inspection, he said improvements were still needed in English, maths and science.

"While progress is still satisfactory, standards are below average and the school has acknowledged that they should be higher."

The report did note that the school had a higher than average proportion of pupils with learning difficulties. Teaching, meanwhile, was rated as satisfactory while a 'sizeable proportion' was classed as good.

Mr Johns said of the report: "We are pleased that the inspectors recognised much of the good work happening at Tollgate.

"We had already identified our areas for development. We will continue our work to improve our pupils' success in the key subjects of English, maths and science."

He also said the school was addressing its weaknesses and was already seeing results.

"We are confident in our aim to achieve 'good' across the board next time," said Mr Johns.

December 7, 2007