ONE of North Yorkshire's small Dales schools has marked its 150th birthday with a glowing Ofsted report.

The governors and staff of Richard Thornton's Primary School at Burton-in-Lonsdale are delighted with the outcome of the recent inspection which found that overall the school provided a sound quality of education for its 35 pupils.

The report commends the partnership with parents and acknowledges the skills and hard work invested by the headteacher and governors in developing leadership and management.

Lead inspector Lois Furness reported: "Overall, the school provides a sound quality of education. Its caring ethos results in the good personal and social development of its pupils."

Other aspects that the inspectors reported as being "good" included induction procedures for children new to the school, the breadth of curricular opportunities, links with the community, other local schools and the church, the care, support and guidance given to the children and the relationships between adults and children.

The caring ethos of the school and the children's behaviour and their positive, well-motivated attitudes in lessons, speaking and listening skills were also praised.

The inspection team identified three points for improvement: to further develop the independent monitoring and evaluation roles of the headteacher, governors and subject co-ordinators, to improve marking and the use of targets and to further develop the use of ICT as a resource to support learning.

Headteacher Chris Norris said the report was a fair reflection of the strengths of the school.

"I am delighted with how the inspection and the report recognise and celebrate the many advantages and positive features of our small village school. The quality of individual care which enables us to provide the opportunities needed for each child to achieve their best in all aspects of school life is a real strength of the school of which we can be justifiably proud.

"We have a totally committed and hard-working staff team and governing body. This report praises their dedication whilst also confirming the school's own analysis of the areas that it wishes to develop further.

"We celebrate the school's 150th anniversary later this month and such a positive report is an ideal present."

Chairman of governors, Andrew Lund, added: "It is great to know that all the recent hard work at the school has resulted in such a successful report. Burton-in-Lonsdale has a school to be proud of."