A SCHOOL that suffered a barrage of criticism from Government inspectors three years ago has made a dramatic turnaround.

Butterstile CP School in Prestwich was highlighted as having "serious weaknesses" in 1999 by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, and was criticised for its lack of strong leadership and long-term planning.

But staff and pupils at the school, led by a new acting headteacher, were celebrating last week after being praised for making "significant progress".

The improvements made in many areas of school life have been impressive and are presented in stark contrast to the damning report of April, 1998.

Reporting inspector the Rev Malcolm Childs said: "Butterstile Primary School is an improving and effective school which has been successful in making significant progress since the last inspection." The report goes on to outline specific improvements which are:

The leadership and management of the school are good.

The quality of teaching is good, pupils make good progress overall.

The school is providing good value for money.

The partnership with parents is now good. They support their children well through their backing for homework.

Pupils enjoy coming to school and have a positive attitude to learning.

The reversal of fortune only came into effect after a monitoring visit by two additional inspectors in September, 1998, confirmed that the school continued to have "serious weaknesses".

And the school's success, which includes a position in the top 25 per cent of schools nationally for English, maths and science, has been put largely down to acting headteacher Mrs Kathryn O'Doherty, who took over the role at the beginning of last year.

The report states: "Decisive action by the governing body, the appointment of an able acting headteacher and the high quality input of a temporary supporting headteacher have meant that the leadership and management of the school are now providing a clear sense of direction.

" The acting headteacher has a clear vision of the school's needs and she works well with her acting deputy and senior management team."

Mrs O'Doherty said: "The last inspection of Butterstile Primary back in 1998 was very damaging to the reputation of the school but since then things have changed completely. There is now a renewed sense of pride in our school."

And she said the results were achieved through teamwork by all members of the school community, adding: "We can look forward to a bright and successful future. I want to thank everyone who has made a difference.

"It has been hard work but I think all would agree it has been worthwhile."