A SOUTH Bank school is celebrating a double helping of praise from the Government.

St Peter's RC Comprehensive School, in Normanby Road, has been presented with an achievement award for its improved examination results and a "good and effective" rating by a team from the Office for Standards in Education.

The school raised its pass rate for five or more GCSE A* - C grades from 19 per cent to 32 per cent.

And now the 15-strong team of Ofsted inspectors has highlighted the improved performance at the 420-pupil school as one of the reasons for the "growing confidence" of parents in St Peter's.

Headteacher John Cornally said: "We have had two very good pieces of news, with the report following on from the achievement award. It confirms the progress we believe we have made at St Peter's and must be seen as an acknowledgement of the work everyone has put in - children, staff, governors and parents."

The inspection team reported "substantial improvement" since the last inspection, in January, 1997, and highlighted an annual improvement in attendance rates. Religious education and spiritual and moral values were acknowledged as a clear strength of the school.

Work on ways to improve the school further - also mentioned in the report - have already begun. These include developing pupils literacy skills, help learning in all subjects and planning whole school and departmental developments more effectively to improve standards even further.