A PRIMARY school in Simonstone has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted for the second successive time.

Inspectors found St Peter’s CofE, in School Lane, to have ‘a warm, welcoming and caring ethos rooted firmly within a Christian context’.

Yvonne Mills-Clare, lead inspector, said in a report: “The headteacher and other leaders provide influential leadership. Governors contribute strongly to the school’s success.

“Behaviour and safety are good. Pupils enjoy school, their well above average attendance paying testament to this.

“Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. This contributes very positively to the strong relationships between adult and pupils and pupils themselves that are based on mutual respect for each other.

“Teaching in the school is good and there is a clear focus on developing pupils’ basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

“Children get off to a flying start in the early years and make good progress across key stages one and two.”

She said to improve further, teachers should share best practice with their colleagues.

The inspector added: “Progress for pupils across all year groups sometimes slows in subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics.

“Points for development from the regular checks that leaders make on the quality of teaching are not always followed up in future monitoring.”