SENIOR staff at Earlston High have received a glowing report from government inspectors - but have still been told, they could do better.

A team of inspectors descended on the secondary school in October.

And they found classrooms full of 'increasingly high-quality experiences for young people'.

Earlston was scored as 'good' for Learning, Teaching and Assessment, and 'very good' for Raising Attainment and Achievement.

An Education Scotland spokesperson said: "Under the highly effective leadership of the headteacher and other senior leaders, teachers are using a range of approaches to improve learning, teaching and assessment.

"Staff have high aspirations for all young people and positive and respectful relationships exist across the school.

"The school is maintaining high levels of attainment for all leavers. In particular, young people who stay on at school until the end of S6 are attaining very well."

But the inspectors did highlight areas where improvement can still be found.

The spokesperson added: "Teachers need to ensure that assessment is used appropriately in S1 to S3 to ensure all young people can demonstrate their knowledge and skills effectively.

"This will help them to understand their next steps in learning more effectively, make better progress and attain more highly.

"The school needs to improve how it is tracking and monitoring young people’s learning from S1 to S3. This will enable teachers to plan appropriate interventions consistently to raise all young people’s attainment."

The findings have been welcomed by headteacher, Justin Sinclair.

He told us: "I am delighted with this strong inspection report.

"I would personally like to thank our pupils, staff, parents/carers, partners and local community. We showcased our great school and are very proud of our achievements.”

As well as the glowing report, a pupil questionnaire issued by Education Scotland, which had almost 500 responses, found that 94 percent of students either agreed or strongly agreed that they felt safe at school, with 92 percent agreeing or strongly agreeing that they were treated fairly and with respect by staff.

Parent Council chair Annabel Howell also gave the findings the thumbs up.

She said: “This is a wonderful report thanks to all the young people and staff who live the school values and for whom learning and learning about learning is interactive, dynamic and fun.

The support of the wider Earlston High School community has been invaluable.”