PUPILS and staff at some of East Lancashire's most successful schools were celebrating today after a national report put them among the most outstanding, improving and highly effective in the country.

Chief Inspector of Schools Chris Woodhead singled out local secondary, primary and special schools for praise while highlighting others as among the most improved in the country.

But he could be heading for a renewed row with the teaching profession, over new figures to back up his previous claims that 15,000 teachers across the country are "incompetent".

In previous reports, Mr Woodhead has only been able to estimate this figure, in the absence of a statistical link between inspectors' judgements on lessons and on individual teachers.

Clitheroe Grammar School was included among an elite list of the 66 most outstanding secondary schools inspected by Ofsted.

And Mr Woodhead said Blackburn's Beardwood School, Hollins High School, Accrington, and Alder Grange, Rawtenstall, were to be congratulated on improving the quality of education and the standards achieved by pupils between the first and second time they were inspected. He said: "This year saw the first re-inspection of secondary schools which enables me to identify improving schools and those listed stand out amongst the many that have improved the quality of education and the standards achieved by pupils since the previous inspection." Laneshawbridge County School, Colne, Stubbins County Primary School, Ramsbottom, and Withnell Fold County School, Withnell, were among 94 middle, primary and nursery schools to achieve high standards in literacy and numeracy, according to the report.

St Oswald's RC Primary School, Accrington, was also included in the report for being one of 103 schools removed from special measures. Blackburn's Roe Lee Park Primary School, St Barnabus and St Paul's C of E Primary School and St Mary's and St Joseph's RC Primary School were also deemed to be no longer failing after inspections last year.

And Gibfield School, Colne, was included in a list of just 22 "highly effective" special schools in England.

Mr Woodhead said: "I am pleased to name special schools which demonstrate the best in this highly diverse and important sector of education."

Just 223 schools deemed to be improving or achieving high performance were selected from more than 7,000 inspected by Ofsted during the academic year 1997-98.

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