It has received an Outstanding grade from the organisation for the third time in succession and it is the first school in Northumberland to get it under the inspectorate's new framework.

In a letter to the children, Lead Inspector Andrew Scott said that "there are so many strengths that I hardly know where to begin".
School Head Teacher Kevin Vardy could not hide his delight at the school's latest success.

"I am absolutely thrilled that Ofsted has once again recognised the quality of education and care that the children at Ellington receive," he said.

"The report is a tribute to the staff, parents, children and the wider community, who work so hard to make the school such a special place and I hope that they all share my pride in our success.

"To be graded as outstanding is an achievement in itself but to maintain that level of excellence over a long period of time and against a changing framework is exceptional.

"It's increasingly difficult to get an Outstanding grade under the new framework, which was recognised in a letter to us by our local education authority, so we are particularly pleased to achieve it once again."

Parents and carers are said to be thrilled with the school in which the achievement of individuals and groups of pupils, the quality of teaching and the curriculum and the early years foundation stage are all described as outstanding, as is the behaviour of the children.

The effectiveness of leadership and management in driving improvement, inclusion, support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and the quality of care are among the other areas to get the top result.

Jonathan Brown, from Northumberland County Council, said: "For the school to achieve yet another outstanding result is exceptional and is a credit to all the staff and the wider school community."

Streamlining existing systems of assessment to make the transfer and use of information more manageable and ensuring there is a consistently high level of challenge for all pupils is the area highlighted by the inspectors for further improvement.

This reflects the school's own self-review findings and action plans are already in place to address this.

With support from the County Council, the school has recently been extended to provide specialist rooms for working with individual children and groups of learners.

New community facilities are also due to be opened in January to enable the school to deliver additional extended services on site.