A city centre Bradford school that opened a little over 18 months ago is celebrating being named the first of its type to be classed as Outstanding by government inspectors.

Despite it being one of the newest schools in the area, Dixons Trinity Academy was the first secondary academy free school in the UK to get the top marks by governing body Ofsted.

Taking students from some of the most economically deprived postcodes in the country, with a large amount of children from ethnic minority backgrounds and a similar large amount who are eligible for free school meals. Despite this, the school has been further proof of the recent turnaround in the city’s educational fortunes.

Visiting the school in late January, inspectors praised the school at every level, from teaching to pupil’s behaviour and leadership.

Dixons Trinity Academy, on Trinity Road, opened in 2012, and so far has pupils in Years 7 and 8. Each year the school will take on another year group until it has a full compliment.

School principal Luke Sparkes is part of the Future Leaders Programme, which develops teachers to take up headship roles in schools in challenging circumstances. As part of the programme he visited schools in America to get inspiration on the best techniques being used there – many of which made their way to Dixons Trinity.

Among the highlights of the report are: “The academy’s core values of hard work, trust and fairness are fundamental in securing students’ outstanding achievement and behaviour.”

Elsewhere the teaching is described as being of “a consistently high quality” and students as “hard working, mature and courteous.”

Visiting the school it is not hard to see what impressed the inspectors. Motivational slogans are painted on walls, signs on doors encourage pupils to show manners by opening doors for their classmates and displays of pupils’ achievements are found around the building.

Every day the school has a Drop Everything And Read period, where regular classes are paused and pupils get time to read – a way staff say will help them develop a love of reading.

In some classes, pupils who don’t understand what is being taught use a prism on their desk, coloured red, yellow and green, to let teachers know they are struggling.

To help speaking and literacy skills, pupils are told to speak in full sentences, and give whoever is speaking in class their full attention.

School dinners take the form of “family dining” where each student is given their own task – creating a sense of community and giving pupils a chance to meet new people.

But one of the most obvious goals of the school is to build pupil’s ambition, and dotted around the school are constant reminders of the importance of higher education. Class groups are often referred to as the class of 2019 or 2020, referencing the year they would start university.

Mr Sparkes said: “In the school I visited in America there was a strong focus on going to college. The question is sometimes asked ‘is it right to be saying to a Year 7 child ‘you should be going to university?’ We’re not saying every child will be forced to go to university, but they will all be in a position to go if they want to. If they don’t then we expect them to be taking up something equivalent like a high level apprenticeship.

“It is about raising aspirations. About 50 per cent of our pupils come from the five poorest wards in Bradford. This isn’t just some writing on the wall, we do a lot to encourage them.”