PUPILS and staff at a Burnley primary school are celebrating after they were praised by a Government watchdog.

Inspectors from Ofsted gave Heasandford Primary School, in Williams Road, a thumbs up after a visit last month to rank its teaching and learning.

The report also praised the leadership of headteacher Kendra Allen and the 560-pupil school’s close links with road safety organisations, the police and the fire service.

Mrs Allen said: “We are delighted with the results of our inspection because it recognises all the hard work put in by teachers, governors and our pupils.

"The inspectors have clearly understood all of the extra little things which we do in school, like holding a breakfast club and our nurture class.

"Ofsted told us that the children are unfailingly polite and well-behaved. The key issues which have been picked up by the inspectors are all things which are in our school action plan for next year.

"The thing that I was really delighted with was that the inspectors have recognised that, while not all our pupils will reach national standards, they will all make good progress, from wherever they started when they joined the school."

The report, which followed a rigorous two-day inspection in June, praised the school’s “good teaching and a well planned curriculum”.

It added: “Pupils are very friendly and polite. They are well cared for and know how to behave safely, and they develop a good awareness of the need to eat sensibly and take regular exercise.”

However, inspectors expressed some concern that sometimes “the pace of lessons is too slow because the teacher talks for too long.” Inspectors gave the school and overall ‘good’ rating.

Ofsted is the Government’s official schools watchdog and is responsible for inspections across England.