BLACKBURN'S beleaguered education bosses finally received some good news today - as one of their high schools was praised by Ofsted inspectors.

Pleckgate High School, Blackburn, is delivering a good quality of education, according to the education watchdog.

Inspectors praised the school for having effective leadership, a very positive ethos, dedicated and committed teachers who know their pupils well and who provide extensive encouragement and high aspirations for every one of its pupils.

Good teaching and above average achievement have been maintained since their last visit, leading to good pupil achievement overall, said the report.

"Obviously there are some areas for improvement which we are working on, but it is a very positive report and recognition of all the hard work everyone has put in," headteacher Robin Campbell said.

"We were particularly pleased with the comment about the school working together in "purposeful harmony" and that they recognised the positive attitudes, good behaviour and strength of teaching and leadership.

"As inspectors noted, some of our pupils enter the school with below average standards and make great advances during their time here. We are particularly proud of that."

Inspectors rated the school's work related learning provision as excellent. Improvements had been noted in pupils' computer and numeracy skills. Extensive links with the community were seen to be very good, helping to broaden the curriculum.

They said pupils' personal qualities are very good, highlighted the high standard of pastoral care and support as "fundamental" to the school's success and praised the fact that the school is highly regarded by parents.

The good news comes as Pleckgate is applying to become a Specialist College in Mathematics and Computing, two subject areas which received special recognition in the Ofsted report.

Coun Dave Hollings, executive member for education and lifelong learning, said: "Pleckgate is a school which works hard to ensure every pupil has the opportunity to succeed and this is reflected in the report. The positive comments from parents and pupils show that they appreciate all the school does for them."

The news comes after a difficult few months for the education authority. Two of the borough's other eight high schools - Darwen Moorland and Queen's Park Technology College - failed their Ofsted inspections earlier this year, while last week the Government told the borough the bid for £150 million of Government money to improve high schools had failed.

And last week's performance tables for 11 year olds ranked Blackburn with Darwen 133rd out of 150.