A FARNWORTH school has been given a fourth prestigious award thanks to its hard-working staff.

Bridgewater Nursery School was presented with a Quality Mark Award by the Basic Skills Agency.

The Dobhill Street school already boasts the accolade of being Bolton's only beacon nursery school, a holder of an Investments in People title, and the RSPCA North-Western award .

The school was awarded its latest title for meeting 10 demanding criteria such as having a strategy with an action plan, assessment for pupil performance, improvement plans for pupils under-attaining, a regular review of pupils' progress and the involvement of parents in developing children's basic skills. Headteacher Marie-Louise Charlton said: "Children acquire their skills through play and meaningful experiences in our self-accessing curriculum and are well supported by staff who have a great deal of expertise.

"Experiences on offer to the children are always exciting and stimulating and the children become willing learners." The latest award was presented to the school by the executive member for education, Cllr Linda Thomas, and the director of education, Margaret Blenkinsop.

Cllr Thomas, said: "It is a really good quality nursery school and they deserve the quality mark because of the hard work of all the team there."