Writing exclusively for the Evening News, the Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, celebrates the success of county schools in this year's "Education Oscars".

Today, I am delighted to be writing for the Evening News. It gives me a chance to tell you good news about schools in your area.

Four of Worcester's schools have been named in my annual report as among England's outstanding schools.

All of these schools received an excellent Ofsted report during the 2002/3 school year. I have included them in my list of successful schools or what I affectionately term, the Education Oscars!

But more seriously, Great Witley CofE Primary School and Defford-cum-Besford CE School, near Pershore, Franche First School, Kidderminster, and Prince Henry's High School, Evesham are among 415 nationwide that I have highlighted as providing a particularly good standard of education for their pupils.

I pay tribute to the staff, governors and pupils of these schools for their success and hard work in delivering such a high standard of education.

In addition, three more local schools, Cliffey House Special School, Worcester, Poolbrook Primary School, Malvern, and Wychbold First and Nursery School, in Droitwich, are also included in my list of 122 schools that have worked hard and made the significant improvements needed to result in their removal from special measures - a considerable achievement.

As well as highlighting the achievements of the England's most successful and improving schools, my annual report also identifies the key issues affecting the education sector.

In my report, I commend the hard-won gains made across the vast majority of schools and colleges. I have also highlighted the encouraging picture of quality in childcare which Ofsted regulates and inspects.

Many schools and their dedicated staff are proving that persistence pays. The significant improvements in standards, teaching, and leadership and management, that we have seen over 10 years, have been maintained.

However, there is still more to do, and schools in your local area and nationwide face a number of challenges that demand urgent attention.

For example, the worrying standstill in primary school test results and a developing gap between achievement in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, and other subjects in primary schools.

There continues to be a worrying gap in achievement between different groups of pupils.

Difficulties in some parts of the education system are compounded by the failure to recruit and retain sufficient teachers.

But notwithstanding these problems, over recent years there have been significant improvements in many aspects of the education system.

The challenge now is for Government and teachers to tackle the persistent problems with renewed vigour, so that all of our children and young people receive the outstanding care and education that many of your local schools are already providing.

Pleasant bonus for four of best

INSPECTORS have named four Worcestershire schools among the best in the country following outstanding Ofsted reports.

The Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, identified the top schools in his Annual Report drawn from those inspected during the last academic year.

Schools on the list stand out for their "success and hard work" - having done either particularly well on all fronts or having achieved highly against the odds.

Three county primaries and one high school were noted, including Defford-cum-Besford CE First School, in Defford, near Pershore, Great Witley CE Primary, in Great Witley and Prince Henry's High School, in Evesham.

"It is exactly 12 months after our Ofsted report and this is another boost for the school," said Janet Brown, headteacher at Defford-cum-Besford school.

"We have continued to improve since last year and our SATS results have been very good, so this is an unexpected, but very pleasant, bonus."

Superb

Liz Jones said the announcement was "superb" for staff at Great Witley Primary.

"We are obviously very pleased because things like this make the job worthwhile," said the deputy head.

"The staff here are hard working and have high expectations of our pupils, and it's great to have that filter through to school inspectors."

The schools received impressive reports for providing "a high standard of education for young people".

Bernard Roberts, headteacher at Prince Henry's, said it was a tribute to everyone associated with the school.

"It's a great accolade and acknowledgement of our strongest ever exam results, fantastic staff and hard work," he said.

Franche First School, in Kidderminster, was also named in Mr Bell's report of top performers.

Cliffey House School, in Hanley Castle, near Malvern, Poolbrook Primary School, in Malvern and Wychbold First and Nursery School, in Droitwich, were also praised for coming out of special measures in 2002/03.

Mr Bell praised both sets of schools for battling to raise standards of education.

"I heartily congratulate the headteachers, staff, governors and pupils of all the successful schools," he said.

"Thanks to strong leadership, dedicated staff and positive commitment pupils at these schools can look forward to a bright future."

The inspection reports for these schools can be found on Ofsted's website www.ofsted.gov.uk