St Anthony's Primary school, Clovelly has been named "an exemplary school" by a University Professor following an extensive inventory of the school this month.

Professor Frank Crowther, former Dean and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Southern Queensland, says that the school has the potential to become "a lighthouse school in the nation" if it were to identify a focus area for development over the next two to three years.

"The inventory for St Anthony's indicates one of the strongest results seen in a school," he said.

"The Principal and staff are to be congratulated for creating an exemplary school, which is so responsive to the aspirations of parents and the needs of students."

St Anthony's Principal Anne Sullivan says the inventory program called IDEAS (Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools) was introduced at her school earlier this year to closely review its teaching practices and ensure it meets students' needs.

Miss Sullivan said the program, an initiative of Education Queensland and the University of Southern Queensland, was designed to revitalise its school climate and take another look at the way things are done.

"Staff, students and parents come together and evaluate the school's teaching practices and how they respect the values of the community, to other things like the use of technology to enhance student learning, financial management and classroom morale," she said.

"The analysis commends the great work our staff are doing to ensure we are providing quality primary schooling education for the students in our local community.

"It acknowledges the quality of teaching and professional development that have been the focus at the school until now. This has resulted in real improvements in student achievement over the past few years," Miss Sullivan added.

"We are particularly delighted that the report identified good performance across a number of areas, including impressive academic achievements from students in years 3 and 5 in areas of literacy and numeracy, which have been above average."

Professor Crowther made further recommendations, including encouraging parents and staff to consult and identify a continued focus for its school development and to make public the successful teaching practices that distinguish the school.

Over 180 schools across the nation have engaged in the IDEAS program as part of a school self-discovery process to lead to sustainable excellence in teaching and learning.

St Anthony's school inventory process took place in August and the report is now completed and available for the school and its community. The report can be seen on the school website http://sta.clovelly.syd.catholic.edu.au/