PUPILS and staff at Malvern Parish School are looking to the future after a Government inspection confirmed it is making good progress.

An inspection carried out by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) last March identified serious weaknesses at the school.

This meant that it was given six months to improve before another inspection.

A newly-published report produced by inspectors who visited in October said they were very content with the progress the school had made.

The school's pupils were described as "delightful" and its governors as "good, critical friends".

The inspectors said teaching at the school was 100 per cent satisfactory and teaching assistants contributed well to the school's performance.

Pupils' test performance for 2003 was well above average and the inspectors said the reception class was making good progress. The report said: "All will achieve, and many exceed, targets."

Acting head Marcia Palmer said she was thrilled with the report.

"For people who go into schools every day, to say the children are delightful is a very nice thing for the parents to hear," she said.

Mrs Palmer added that the school's staff and governors would not rest on their laurels and would continue working to address the key issues set out in the Ofsted report.