THE Mayor, Cllr Peter Birch, has officially opened a new £230,000 extension at Tonge Moor County Primary School, Bolton. The ceremony took place on the day Ofsted inspectors published the results of their inspection of the school earlier this year. The new building was recognised by the Ofsted team as one of the many positive steps that had been taken by the school in the past four years.

The team concluded: "Tonge Moor Primary School is an improving school, that is going through a period of rapid development.

"Systems and procedures are being put in place, which are beginning to have a positive impact on standards, progress and the quality of education being provided for the pupils. Important strengths are beginning to emerge, particularly in pupils' attitudes, behaviour and relationships."

Even in the older, Victorian buildings, it was recognised that "all parts of the school testify to the hard and inspirational work that has gone into transforming some drab rooms into attractive learning environments".

While it was recognised that standards in the school were below national averages in English, mathematics and science, it was also recognised that generally the progress that children made was satisfactory in English and science with good progress being made in music, history, geography, design technology, art and religious education.

The provision made for pupils with Special Educational Needs was good, with a good level of support provided by the school and external agencies.

"Teaching overall is satisfactory," said the report. "There is good teaching evident in approximately one-third of lessons with some of this being very good."

The nursery was praised for giving the children a "good start to their education".

Recommendations to help to improve the school further, include continuing to introduce the National Literacy Strategy, introduce the National Numeracy Strategy and continue to support and train staff in the use of Information Technology. ?

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