A Bolton primary school where "everyone is made to feel welcome" has retained its 'good' rating. 

St James CofE Primary School in Daisy Hill, Westhoughton, was visited by Ofsted on May 8 this year. 

The school which has been rated 'good' since 2005, has retained the rating following the ungraded inspection. 

An ungraded inspection is a routine inspection of schools already judged 'good' or 'outstanding', with St James' previous inspection having taken place in 2019. 

Lead inspector Kate Bowker, in her report, praised pupils' achievement, the care they show towards each other, the school's "well-designed" curriculum and teachers' subject expertise. 

The report says: "Everyone is made to feel welcome at this school. Pupils know that they are looked after by kind adults who know them well. 

"The school has high expectations for pupils’ achievement. Pupils benefit from an ambitious and varied curriculum. They spoke confidently about their learning and understand why education is important for their future lives. 

"Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well across the curriculum. 

"Pupils are considerate and caring towards each other. They behave well in lessons and at playtimes. In lessons, pupils listen carefully to teachers’ instructions, and they are eager to contribute to discussions." 

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It adds: "The well-designed curriculum ensures that pupils achieve high standards from the earliest stage.

"The school has thought carefully about what pupils need to know and remember, ordering this learning logically from the early years to Year Six. Teachers have the subject expertise to deliver the curriculum well.

"They use modelling effectively and bring learning to life through clear and logical explanations. Teachers use questioning skilfully to check pupils’ understanding and address any misconceptions as they arise. 

"However, in a small number of subjects, teachers do not use assessment methods well enough to identify some of the gaps in pupils’ subject knowledge." 

Adam Barker, deputy headteacher at the school, said: "I think it just goes to show the work that goes on at the school.

"It is nice to get that recognition from an outside agency. They also raised improvements, part of which was stuff that we were already looking to work on in the next year. 

"It fits really nicely that Ofsted agreed with us on the things they were impressed with and the stuff to be worked on." 

"It is just in terms of the assessment, we have done a lot of work on the curriculum and we have updated to try to keep parents informed where children are at with their progress.

"We are quite pleased that the whole report comes across really positively. 

"We feel it is a fair reflection of our school. We are a good school, children are very welcome and they are an asset to our school."