TEACHERS at Giggleswick Primary School have been celebrating this week after being named in the annual report of the Chief Inspector of Ofsted as a particularly successful school.

In his report published on Tuesday, Chief Inspector Mike Tomlinson identified a number of schools including Giggleswick.

He said: "These schools have received an outstanding inspection report and performed well in national tests and examinations given the circumstances of the schools."

Headteacher Anne Michelmore-Brown said the school was extremely pleased to be included in the report and added only 132 primary schools had been chosen out of 3,770 inspected last year.

The primary school received an outstanding Ofsted report for the year 1999/2000 with the inspector not finding any key elements that needed to be improved upon or any weaknesses. The school also enjoyed good national test results, which were an improvement on the previous year.

She said: "We were all quite excited to hear the news. It was a result of a lot of hard work. It's been a combination of having a very conscientious staff and very supportive governors and parents. Members of the community have also been very supportive with some helping out with teaching and others with fundraising for the school."

Mrs Michelmore-Brown added: "I think the size of the school makes a difference because as it is small there's still a real family atmosphere"

She said staff were now asking for ideas from pupils on how to celebrate the good news and it was hoped something could be arranged before the half term holiday.

Mr Tomlinson also praised the quality of teaching and leadership in the country's schools, which he said was improving, and added that pupils' standards continued to rise.

However, he said that despite all these encouraging signs, the gap between the high and low performing schools was still too wide. Mr Tomlinson said although the gap was narrowing in the primary sector, with the greatest progress being made by schools with disadvantaged intakes and previously low attainment, the reverse was true in secondaries.