A WORCESTER school has been praised for its good teaching and ensuring the abilities of all pupils are addressed.

But standards in one subject at Northwick Manor Infants' School were found to have fallen since the last Ofsted inspection.

Information and communication technology (ICT) standards had dropped to below those expected nationally at age seven.

"This is attributable to the rapid developments in the subject in the past few years and the early stage of further development in the school," said Ofsted inspectors in their report.

"Pupils have very limited opportunities to use ICT as a learning tool in other subjects of the curriculum, and teachers' skills and confidence in teaching the subject are limited because many are still in the early stage of their own training."

Pupils at the Northwick Road school are achieving above average results in mathematics, reading and writing.

Children in reception and pupils in Year 1 are expected to achieve higher standards. These are borne out by pupils' current standards, as seen during the inspection.

There are high standards in Year 2 in the majority of subjects, with average expectations in religious education and history and low standards in ICT.

"Teaching is good throughout the school," said the report. "A particular str-ength of teaching is the planning that takes place to ensure that the needs of all pupils are met, whatever their ability.

"The school has very good systems in place for assessing what pupils know, understand and can do and the progress they make."

The inspectors found that the attitudes of pupils contributed to the high standards.

They had improved since the last inspection in 1997.

"They make a significant contribution to the standards achieved," said the report.

"Parents are almost unanimous in saying that their children like school.

"Discussions with pupils confirm they are happy to be at the school and are very enthusiastic about their learning. They show high levels of perseverance with tasks and exhibit pride in their achievements."