CARING pupils and staff impressed Department of Education inspectors at Woodnook Primary School, Accrington, but though pupils make good progress, they are still below national expectations in some areas of the curriculum.

Youngsters were below the national average when they entered the school, though they soon made sound progress in most subjects, with the exception of maths and English.

They excelled at physical education, coming above the national average, with inspectors praising the children's enthusiasm.

The OFSTED report says management is sound, and the headteacher, governors and staff have promoted a warm, caring ethos, which is a strength of the school.

It praises pupils for developing a clear sense of right and wrong, and says they are encouraged to develop positive relationships with others, and are generally polite and friendly. But it criticises lack of emphasis on design, technology and information technology, saying pupils do not make enough artefacts.

Parents were also questioned about their children's progress. Parents of all 255 pupils received questionnaires and 85 replied.

Almost all respondents said their children enjoyed school and that the school encouraged parents to play an active part in the life of the school.

They also found it easy to approach teachers with questions of problems.

Chairman of the governors Coun Len Dickinson, was pleased with the report: "We welcome the comments made by the inspector about the strengths and weaknesses of our school.

"We intend to build on our strengths and have already acted on some of the inspector's recommendations.

"For example, we have already employed an extra lunchtime welfare assistant and increased supervision at wet playtimes.

"We want to thank parents for the overwhelming support they have given us during the inspection."

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