A primary school in Great Yarmouth’s urban heart has been praised by Ofsted for helping children to “get off to a flying start”.

St George’s Primary and Nursery School has been rated ‘good’ overall and in all but one of the main categories following Ofsted’s latest visit.

Inspectors said headteacher, Melodie Fearns, and assistant headteacher Sharron Mitchell, lead by example and were passionate about improving the lives of pupils.

They added all the staff were very proud to work at St George’s, in St Peter’s Road, a stone’s throw from the Golden Mile.

Ms Fearns, said: “We are extremely pleased that the hard work and commitment of our staff has been recognised and the achievements of the children and families celebrated.

“We know that we still have a long way to go to get the children’s attainment to be closer to the national averages but many of our children face enormous barriers to learning.”

The Ofsted report describes how “children in early years get off to a flying start, often from low starting points and make good progress.”

Many children do not speak English when they join the school but this is something it embraces.

Some classes have 80pc of children with English as an additional language.

Ms Fearns, added: “This rich multicultural environment is vibrant and helps to make our school a very special place in which to learn and one that is valued by the wider community of Great Yarmouth.”

On the downside the report does highlight that outcomes for pupils “requires improvement”.

Ofsted wants the school to improve the quality of teaching and learning so that pupils achieve closer to the national average in writing and maths.

One of the recommendations is for teachers to ensure they plan regular opportunities for pupils to use their maths skills and knowledge in problem-solving and in other subjects on the curriculum.

Leaders at the school also need to continue working with parents to address the absence of some pupils who do not attend school regularly enough.

The school says it is looking forward to making the improvements as it strives towards an outstanding rating in the future.