A BRADFORD district primary school has been praised for its "caring and welcoming" environment where pupils "thrive".

St Anthony's Catholic Primary School on High Busy Lane, Shipley, was inspected by education watchdog Ofsted on October 8.

A newly-released report said the school - which is part of Blessed Christopher Wharton Catholic Multi-Academy Trust - has "taken effective action to maintain the standards" which were identified during its last inspection, when it was rated 'good' overall.

Headteacher Ashley Wilkinson said: "We are delighted with our recent inspection report. 

"The inspectors saw first-hand the care and love provided to our pupils and families. 

"We hope that this inspection will encourage more families to view St Anthony’s as a high-quality education provider and attend our school."

Ofsted has praised St Anthony's Catholic Primary School Ofsted has praised St Anthony's Catholic Primary School (Image: Newsquest/Mike Simmonds)

In their report, inspectors said: "Pupils thrive in this caring and welcoming school. 

"The school's mission statement - 'let your words teach and your actions speak' - is at the very heart of the school's ethos. 

"Older pupils readily act as role models to younger pupils. 

"They behave well because it is simply the right thing to do. 

"Many pupils contribute to school life by organising events, including a harvest appeal. 

"These opportunities support pupils to see the importance of helping others within the community and beyond."

They added: "Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. 

"Behaviour in lessons and at social times is consistently positive. 

"Pupils are taught routines and expectations from the early years.

"The strong culture of equality, justice and fairness helps everyone to feel happy and valued. 

"Pupils also develop an age-appropriate understanding of how to keep physically and mentally healthy."

Under the section 'what does the school do well and what does it need to do better?', inspectors said: "The school has taken steps to strengthen the curriculum in recent years. 

"The revised curriculum is well thought out and sequenced to enable pupils to build on previous learning.

"A small number of subjects are yet to be reviewed.

"As a result, pupils are less enthusiastic about their learning in these lessons and the knowledge that they remember is variable."

They added: "Mathematics is taught consistently well across school. 

"Pupils enjoy applying their mathematical knowledge to tricky problems. 

"Leaders have recently identified a need to strengthen pupils' recall of multiplication facts and have put steps in place to address this."