The re-inspection of many primary schools has allowed Ofsted to pick out those which have made "excellent improvement" since they were first looked at.

It lists 40 that have done particularly well.

"The schools below stand out amongst the many that have improved the quality of education and the standards achieved by pupils since the previous inspection," says the chief inspector, Chris Woodhead.

Click here for the full list

Allanson Street Primary School, Parr. LEA: St Helens

A concerted effort to set targets for pupils has seen a marked improvement at Allanson Street.

The headteacher, Chris Maloney, took over shortly after the school's first Ofsted inspection in 1995. The quality of his leadership comes in for praise.

"Children are targeted more precisely for improvement," Mr Maloney said.

"So that we've not only got targets for all our year groups, but for individual classes but also now for individual pupils. That's the most important thing.

"It's a case of sitting down and having a discussion with each child and saying 'Well, OK, this is where we are now - what thing are we looking to improve for you?'

Attainable targets

"It might be at an individual level something like number bonds for an infant or an aspect of written work for juniors, and they knew that target and shared that with the child."

The targets are small and attainable - learning the eight times table, perhaps, or remembering always to use capital letters and full stops in sentence writing.

Each child improves, the whole class improves, and so on up.

"I think also the teachers are far more focused now - I think the introduction of the numeracy and the literacy hour have been tremendous," Mr Maloney said.

"Teachers are on their feet teaching. It's hard work and the staff are exhausted but the results are there for all to see."

As a new project, children are getting diaries in which to record their work, which are also a form of liaison between school and home.

There is also growing parental support in what is what Mr Maloney describes as a "terrifically challenging" area with a lot of social deprivation - with more than 60% of his pupils entitled to free school meals, many single parent families and high unemployment.

"A lot of the parents are very supportive once you get them across that barrier that school wasn't perhaps such a great thing for them."

Name	LEA
Allanson Street Primary School, Parr	St Helens
Berkley Church of England First School, Frome	Somerset
Castle Hill Junior School, Winklebury Way	Hampshire
Cherry Orchard Primary School, Birmingham	Birmingham
Cramlington Cragside First School, Cramlington	Northumberland
Crowle Primary School, Crowle	North Lincolnshire
Dunstable Icknield Lower School, Dunstable	Bedfordshire
Elsworth CE Primary School, Elsworth	Cambridgeshire
Freemantle CE Infant School, Freemantle	Southampton
Gomer Infant School, Alverstoke	Hampshire
Harlow Green Junior School, Gateshead	Gateshead
Haslemere First School, Haslemere Avenue	Merton
Higher Bebington Junior School, Higher Bebington	Wirral
Hobletts Manor Junior School, Hemel Hempstead	Hertfordshire
Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Addlestone	Surrey
John Rankin Infant and Nursery School, Newbury	West Berkshire
Katherine Semar Infant School, Saffron Walden	Essex
Lanner Primary School, Lanner	Cornwall
Lark Rise Lower School, Dunstable	Bedfordshire
Lumley Medway Infant School, Chester-le-Street	Durham
Nettlestone Primary School, Seaview	Isle of Wight
Newall Green Infant School, Wythenshawe	Manchester
Oakwood Infant School, Hartley Wintney	Hampshire
Park Farm Primary School, Folkestone	Kent
Parson Street Primary School, Bedminster	Bristol, City of
Poulton-le-Fylde The Breck Primary School, Poulton-le-Fylde	Lancashire
Prees CE Primary School, Prees	Shropshire
Princess Frederica CE Primary School, London	Brent
South Stanley Infant School, South Stanley	Durham
Sparrow Farm Junior School, Feltham	Hounslow
St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School, Northfield	Birmingham
St John’s CE Infant School, Dewsbury	Kirklees
St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Maida Vale	Westminster
St Peter’s CE Primary School, Edgmond	Telford and Wrekin
Stanley Park Junior School, Carshalton	Sutton
Strand-on-the-Green Junior School, Chiswick	Hounslow
Throckley First School, Throckley	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
West Hill Primary School, London	Wandsworth
Weston Shore Infant School, Southampton	Southampton
Woodlands Junior School, Tonbridge	Kent