The newly-appointed headteacher of a primary school in St Albans said she is "very proud" the school achieved "good" in their latest Ofsted inspection.

Gillie Young’s comments come after the education watchdog visited St Peter’s School in July and judged it to be good because standards in reading, writing and maths are above average - and most pupils make more than the usual amount of progress from their individual starting points.

The school in Cottonmill Lane teaches 263 pupils between the ages of three and 11.

Inspectors visited 22 lessons and spoke with year one and two pupils as part of the observation. They noted the proportions of pupils making good progress between year two and year six in reading, writing and mathematics compare favourably with national figures.

The report said teachers know their pupils well and use this to plan work that responds to their interests as well as meeting their needs. Inspectors also noted that good use is made of visits to places of interest, visitors and local studies to extend pupils’ experiences and thirst for knowledge.

In September 2008 the school achieved the highest grading from Ofsted. Inspectors said the school is not outstaning now because teaching does not offer enough scope for pupils to use their initiative, express opinions and challenge their own and others’ view and the quality of marking is variable.

The previous headteacher left the school in January 2014. The deputy headteacher stepped up as acting headteacher until the newly appointed headteacher arrived in June - four weeks before the inspection.

The report commended Gillie Young for acting quickly to restore confidence in staff, parents and carers after an "unusually turbulent period".

The report said: "Her high visibility around the school and willingness to meet and greet parents and carers to share their concerns is overwhelmingly appreciated.

"She is perceptive and in a matter of weeks has a good grasp of the school’s strengths and where improvements can be made."

Gillie Young said: "I am extremely proud of the report and I feel that it recognises all the strengths of the school and also the areas that need further development - the committed staff, supportive parents and governors and our enthusiastic and well behaved pupils make St Peter’s a unique school community. "The school has a very bright future ahead and I look forward to being part of it."

The excellent behaviour of pupils was also praised in the report.