A PRIMARY school which was placed under special measures has made some improvements in the eyes of educational watchdogs.

But officials from Ofsted raised concerns over the lack of progress in eradicating underachievement amongst pupils in years one and three at Great Marsden St John's CE school in Nelson.

And the report concludes more support is needed from the local authority to deal with staffing issues as a matter of urgency if the school is to make progress towards being removed from special measures.

Inspectors have just completed their third monitoring visit since the Trent Road school was deemed to be failing in November 2006.

Significant changes have been made to the church school since then, with the head, who has been absent since September, making a phased return to the school shortly and an increasingly effective' board of governors.

Garry Jones, the Ofsted inspector who led the Great Marsden visit, said that overall the school is making satisfactory' progress in its bid to come out of special measures.

In a letter to associate head Liz Townend he has praised the standards he witnessed in teaching.

"Teaching is satisfactory overall. The proportion of good teaching has increased reflecting the impact of the training and support the staff have received," he said.

But he warned the number of short-term temporary teachers to cover long term absences at the school is affecting pupils' progress and that the good teaching is not consistent in all classes.

Pupils attitudes are seen as a strength but in classes affected by staff absences they are finding it hard to settle to work or to respond to instructions immediately, according to the inspection team.

But pupils, whose spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is good, are demonstrating pride in their work.

Mr Jones said planned activities are not always providing an appropriate degree of challenge for all the pupils because the work does not match the full range of abilities.

The senior leadership team are praised in the report for working hard to bring about improvements'.

And the governing body, which was strengthened, is now proactively monitoring performance and holding the school to account.