A PRIMARY school in Bury was judged to require improvement in its latest Ofsted report.

Woodbank Primary School, in Brandlesholme Road, was given the grade on March 19, following a satisfactory rating from inspectors in September, 2011.

The school has now received two successive grade three ratings — the judgement of satisfactory was replaced by requires improvement in 2012 as part of a shake-up in inspection criteria.

Ofsted said the behaviour and safety of pupils was rated as good, with the report stating that they were eager to learn and enjoy school.

But inspectors said not enough pupils were making consistently good progress; pupils did not have enough opportunities to practise and improve their writing skills; and senior and particularly middle leaders were not all fully involved in checking how well pupils were learning.

However, the report also stated that the interim headteacher had an excellent understanding of what the school needed to do to improve and that, as a result, teaching and achievement were getting better.

Geraldine Woodward, seconded headteacher at the school, said: “We are very pleased that inspectors recognised our recent improvements.

"The staff have worked so hard, embracing the recent changes. The key issues identified by inspectors will help the school move forward rapidly on its journey of improvement.

"We have already started working with staff on an action plan to address the issues raised. In our next inspection, we aim to achieve a good rating.”

To obtain a higher rating, Ofsted said the school needed to improve the quality of teaching so that pupils achieve well and reach higher standards, and improve the effectiveness of leadership.