A SCHOOL which had special measures imposed last year after it was found to have "serious weaknesses" has been praised by education inspectors for making good progress.

Eastbourne Comprehensive School, Darlington, has recently had visits from national and local education authority (LEA) inspectors, who say there has been a dramatic improvement in pupils' behaviour.

The school was hit last October by the resignation of headteacher Richard Appleton and several governors.

Since then, there has been an almost complete change of leadership at the school, including the appointment of Karen Pemberton as acting headteacher and the appointment of a new governing body.

But last month, the school faced fresh criticism when German lessons had to be scrapped because a full-time teacher could not be found.

The recent inspections show that improvement has been made in five of the six problem areas at the school: management, attendance, teaching standards, pupils' attitude and behaviour, and ethos.

Ms Pemberton said an action plan to save the school was working.

"The school is confident that the sixth area, standards of pupil attainment, will also show notable improvement when this year's GCSE results are announced in August," she said.

"The improvements noted both by LEA and external inspections are evidence that the actions we have taken have been the correct ones.

"We still have a long way to go and things are far from perfect, but we are pointing in the right direction and are determined to build on our successes for the sake of our pupils."

An official inspection of the school will take place later this year.