A Croydon primary school with its own mini-parliament has been praised for being “warm and caring” and having high expectations for pupils.

Quest Primary School in South Croydon has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted following an inspection at the end of February.

It comes five years after it became an academy – it was previously Gilbert Scott Primary which was rated ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted.

The school’s head, Jo Stawman, joined in September and has implemented the new motto ‘be ready, be respectful and be safe’, which Ofsted said help pupils to “make the right choices” and has resulted in good behaviour.

Miss Stawman said the motto extends to children’s behaviour outside school as well as following rules in the classroom.

She said it teaches them to be safe when travelling to school and to be safe online.

In September, Miss Stawman has introduced a pupil parliament which has two representatives each from Year 2 to Year 6.

She said: “They talk through what they want and would like to happen in school. We talk about the role of democracy and that they are the voice of the whole of the pupil body.

“We talk about what is reasonable to implement for them and when it isn’t we make sure they understand why.”

This school year the pupil parliament has helped organise an Easter egg hunt and a dress up day to celebrate the times tables rock stars program which saw competitions between teachers and pupils.

Ofsted’s report said children are proud to take on classroom jobs and be litter pickers in school.

It added: “Classrooms have a productive atmosphere, where pupils concentrate on learning without disruption.”

Children learn about relationships, tolerance and equality from the age of four, starting with how to listen to each other and friendships then leading to consent, and guidance on social media and mental health for older children.

Miss Stawman, who was previously deputy head at Courtwood School in Addington, has ambitions for the school to be rated ‘outstanding’ in its next inspection.

Since the school was taken over it has become more popular, she said, with an extra 35 children added to reception class.

The teacher added there are spaces available in other years for interested parents.