STAFF and pupils at a Bolton Catholic primary school are celebrating after chief inspector Chris Woodhead gave them a clean bill of health.

Three years ago St Bernard's RC Primary was forced to merge with neighbouring St Ethelbert's to escape possible closure after being slammed by inspectors.

But now Ofsted say the Ladybridge primary has turned the corner and can be struck off their blacklist of schools which need regular scrutiny.

Critical

Their latest report concluded: "Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures, since it is now providing an acceptable standard of education for its pupils."

It marks the end of a traumatic time for the Wendover Drive school following the damning report in January 1996 which was particularly critical of the leadership.

Headteacher Miss Angela Smith, who was under suspension at the time of the inspection, took early retirement soon afterwards and a £50,000 facelift and merger followed.

St Ethelbert's head, Kath Morris, and chairman of the governors, Mike Procter, are praised in the latest report for making the necessary improvements and restoring the confidence of parents and staff. Mr Procter said it was a team effort and praised St Ethelbert's, the local education authority, the diocese and parents for helping to pull St Bernard's through a difficult time.

He said: "I feel the whole direction and ethos of the school has improved immensely over the last three years.

"Parents now have more confidence in the school management and are appreciative of the efforts by the staff to ensure the school came out of special measures."

Inspectors said new head, Jennifer Brook, who started last September, is carrying on the good work quickly and effectively.

She said: "The report is pleasing for the whole community of St Bernard's and it is our aim to build upon the success of coming out of special measures and to strive for higher expectations and further improvement."

During their latest visit in December, Ofsted found the school had made good progress in addressing two problem areas - the general ethos and the management and leadership of the school.

Satisfactory progress has been made on four other key issues - educational standards, quality of teaching, the curriculum and the effective use of staff and finances.

Test results for seven and 11-year-olds are above average and pupils make sound progress, but inspectors believe the school can do even better because it has so many bright pupils.

Key areas for further improvement include stretching all pupils but particularly the more able, concentrating on reading and science, refining curricular planning and developing a wider range of teaching strategies.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.