INSPECTORS have praised teachers at a Bolton primary school.

They concluded that high quality teaching was an "outstanding strength" of St Maxentius CE Primary School, New Heys Way, Bradshaw.

Headteacher, Mr Robert Ingham gave "caring and positive leadership in a way that reinforces the school values".

The Ofsted report said the school consistently achieves high standards of attainment, particularly in literacy, numeracy and science.

Children entering the school have a wide range of abilities but overall have an above average level of attainment.

By Key Stage 1 their attainments in English, maths and science are in line with national expectations. By Key Stage 2 their achievements in these core subjects have overtaken national average standards for their age.

Inspectors praised provision for children's moral development as "excellent" and said parents rightly believed this to be one of the strongest features of the school.

"Children's behaviour and attitudes towards learning are excellent and relationships are very good," they added.

However, there was room for improvement and the school was told to raise standards in information technology where children do not do as well as they might.

Teachers were asked to find ways of challenging high achievers and improve lesson plans to assess pupils' achievements more clearly. The school development plan also needed to be adjusted.

Chairman of the governors, the Rev David Dunn, said: "The governors are obviously delighted with what the inspectors have had to say about our school and feel that their comments serve to highlight the considerable amount of work and effort that is maintained by the children, staff, parents and members of our community."

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