WYCOMBE Grange has been given a first class report from Ofsted school inspectors.

The school, in Amersham Hill, High Wycombe, caters for secondary school children who cannot cope with school for one reason or another and who go there to continue their education.

The 125 or so boys and girls on the books could be permanently excluded from school school refusers, pregnant schoolgirls and schoolgirl mums, and children with behavioural problems.

Staff also teach children in hospital and go into mainstream schools to help prevent children being excluded and to train teachers there how to handle difficult children.

The inspectors looked at all aspects of work, visiting hospitals and mainstream schools as well as Wycombe Grange.

They reported that leadership was excellent, clear and purposeful, staff were experienced, teaching and lessons were good, and pupils made good progress. Children got on well together and were well-behaved and parents were pleased with the school.

The children two-thirds of them boys come from 24 local schools, including grammar and special schools, and take GCSEs, and computer literacy, numeracy, literacy and communications exams.

All children have their personal educational plans and all do well against the targets set for them. Of 72 GCSE exams taken in 1999, 38 were at grades A* to C.

Almost half of those who leave Wycombe Grange go into full-time jobs, with another 20 per cent going into training or continuing their full-time education.

Peter Wild, head of Wycombe Grange, said he was pleased with the exam results. Ofsted inspectors expected progress regardless of the type of school.

The amount of time the children spent in school varied, he said. For some it might be one afternoon a week, for others three or four days.

The aim was to get the children back into their mainstream school within two terms

The children got as much schooling as they could cope with.

"We are experimental here," he said. "We try to solve problems not worry about hours.

"We are not here to babysit, but to make progress."

One criticism was that some children who should have been at special schools for children with emotional and behavioural problems were being sent to the school. Mr Wild said that had been a problem but was no longer the case.