A SOUTH Lakeland school has turned itself around and cut the number of unsatisfactory lessons from one-fifth to none, a government inspectors' report has revealed.

Inspectors from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) found Ambleside CE Primary School had made a "very good improvement" in teaching quality since the last inspection in June 1998.

Tony Champion, chairman of governors, said all the governors of the 197-pupil school were delighted: "They see it as a tribute to a most hard-working and committed staff."

The report identified the school's strengths: l Good teaching, a significant improvement on the last inspection.

l Very good pupil care.

l Effective leadership.

l Very good attitudes to learning.

l Good spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of the pupils.

l Good links with parents, the community and other schools.

l Successful introduction of French into the syllabus.

It also picked out its weaknesses: l Some lessons were not challenging enough.

l Marking to set pupils new targets was inconsistent.

l Time was wasted in some lessons.

l The libraries were not good enough.

The inspectors said pupils showed very good attitudes and behaved well, and added: "The school has good partnerships with parents, good links with the community and a curriculum enhanced by enjoyable activities."

The inspectors found pupils were attentive, eagerly answered questions posed by teachers and were keen to participate in lesson activities. They said: "Personal development is promoted effectively from an early stage. A child in the reception class was heard to say: It is naughty to laugh at people because you can hurt their feelings'."