A HEADMASTER'S stamp of authority has brought a Padiham primary school a glowing report from Ofsted inspectors.

They found the 215-pupil Padiham Green CE school's strengths far outweighed any weaknesses and provided 'very good' value for money.

And there was special praise for head teacher Paul Stamp, who gave 'dynamic leadership' and a clear sense of direction to the school's work and staff who were committed to helping pupils attain high standards.

Standards, particularly in English, mathematics and science were much higher than those found in similar schools and higher than expected when account was taken of pupils below-average attainment on entry.

The Ofsted team found the school was achieving some of the best maths results in the country -- among the top five per cent nationally.

Inspectors said there were weaknesses in the provision for the very youngest pupils and the provision of information technology did not meet statutory requirements. But these were far outweighed by what was done well at the school which had built on the strengths identified in the last inspection four years ago.

These included the high quality of leadership, particularly from Mr Stamp, which ensured a climate strongly committed to learning, which saw pupils make good progress in their work.

Effective teaching challenged and motivated pupils and encouraged them to do their best.

The school effectively promoted pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and had an extremely positive ethos, where pupils were valued, successfully fostered very good standards of behaviour and friendly relationships and encouraged constructive attitudes to work and enthusiasm for learning, the inspectors added.

Mr Stamp, head for the past 12 years, said today: "We are delighted with the report, which acknowledges the effort and achievement of pupils, staff, parents and governors."