A SCHOOL and its teachers have won praise from Government inspectors.

Offsted inspectors have singled out James King and Sue Picknett, the head and his deputy respectively at Berwick Hills Primary, for plaudits in the continuing good progress of the Middlesbrough school.

The Westerdale Road school has been awarded three Government school achievement awards since its last inspection in 1998.

And the inspectors' report states: "The excellent leadership of the head teacher and deputy head teacher has had a positive impact, enabling the school to improve significantly over a relatively short period. Standards have risen year on year since the head teacher took up his post.''

The inspectors found teaching at the school good overall with some very high quality lessons observed during their inspection.

"Teachers work hard, are skilful and have a firm commitment to improvement, ensuring that learning is consistently good, '' the report states.

Mr King said: "We are very pleased with the successful aspects of our school which were confirmed by the inspection team. However, the report also confirms our own understanding of the areas for improvement, the quality of writing and concerns regarding attendance, for example.

"We are now drafting a plan of action to address these and other issues. This action plan will map out our school improvement journey for several years to come.''.