QUALITY counts for the pupils and staff at a York primary school.

Scarcroft School is celebrating being awarded a quality mark by the Basic Skills Agency for achieving high standards in reading, writing, spelling and number work.

Head teacher Anna Cornhill said she was delighted with the award and, in particular, that the assessors described the school's application as "exemplary".

Mrs Cornhill said she had already been asked for advice by other schools about how to apply for the award.

She said: "While school results already demonstrate high academic standards, it is especially encouraging to have these standards acknowledged by an external, independent agency."

To apply for the quality mark the school had to show it had an action plan to improve children's reading, writing and number work, assessed children to see if they needed extra help and had a target for improving skills.

Updated: 11:08 Wednesday, October 27, 2004