INSPECTORS have praised a village school for its turnaround in just six months after Ofsted assessed it as having serious weaknesses last year, writes Lauren Pyrah.

Last week, a fresh report on Bishopton Redmarshall Primary School revealed it would no longer be subject to planned interim monitoring because of the "very good progress" made since October.

The recent assessment - carried out at short notice - was part of the monitoring programme set up in October.

The news that the special programme was no longer necessary was described as representing "a rare and significant achievement" by the school.

The report said: "Very good progress has been made in implementing the action plan and removing the causes of the school's serious weaknesses."

It said that the school had addressed the two key areas of weakness - realistic self-assessment and development plans, and the provision of suitably challenging work and raising pupils' achievement.

The report praised the "confident leadership" of acting headteacher Nell Morgan and said the partnership between the local education authority in Darlington, the governors, parents, staff and pupils had been the key to the success.

The report found that teaching in all classes was good, that teaching assistants contributed significantly to pupils' learning, that staff morale was high and expertise growing rapidly.

Work of the governing body was recognised as developing well.

The school, which is developing its next improvement plan, can expect its next visit in 12 to 18 months' time.

Mrs Morgan said: "Naturally we are delighted with the inspectors' report. This has been very much a team effort. There has been immense commitment and hard work from staff and governors alike."