A VALE of Glamorgan school has been awarded the top accolade in the Welsh Government categorisation bandings for the fourth consecutive year.

The bandings were released on Thursday, February 1, with schools being placed into categories dependent on the level of external support they were likely to require over the coming year. Schools performing the strongest were placed in to the green category, while those needing extra help were placed into yellow or amber. Those needing the most intensive support were placed in the red category.

Mary Immaculate High School in Wenvoe is one of just nine schools in Wales to have been placed in the Green 1A category every year since the categorisation began.

Their continued success is all the more impressive, given it is a school where more than 30 per cent of pupils receive free school meals and two in three come from some of the most deprived areas in Wales.

Head teacher Huw Powell said: "We are exceptionally pleased to be awarded Green 1A for the fourth year running and it is down to the dedication and determination of both staff and students alike."