A HEAD teacher at a school praised by education inspectors has been told to spend less time teaching and more on leadership and management.

Youngsters who attend the rural parish school of St Mary's RC Primary in Osbaldeston, Blackburn, looked forward to a day in the classroom, reported Ofsted inspectors.

The report stated: "The school provides a positive ethos for learning and pupils enjoy coming to school. Pupils are confident and enthusiastic and are very eager to ask and answer questions."

The Ofsted inspection also found pupils made a confident start, settled into school life and enjoyed positive relationships.

Attendance and punctuality was good and pupils were friendly to visitors and when working.

A massive 90 per cent of teaching was satisfactory, with over half of teaching rated good, very good or excellent.

Teaching was good in science and satisfactory in English, maths , music and information technology. Special needs children benefited from sound teaching.

The report said more varied techniques and materials were needed in art work.

Effective use was made of the library service and information technology and parents supported the school curriculum and their children's learning at home.

The headteacher Mrs Dorothy Mortiboy, worked hard and had a strong commitment to the school. She knows the pupils well and has established a calm and caring ethos in the school which produced children well prepared for their secondary education, the report said.

But it added that she needed to reduce her teaching commitment to enable her to spend more time on leadership and management issues.

Financial planning was sound and the school offered value for money.

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