A HEADTEACHER is “over the moon with joy” after news that a Letchworth GC school has been taken out of special measures.

Fearnhill School has been deemed by Ofsted to be ‘satisfactory’ in all areas, 13 months after a previous inspection said the school was “failing to give its students an acceptable standard of education”.

The secondary school in Icknield Way was visited by inspectors on March 6 and 7, the third monitoring inspection since being placed on special measures - the lowest Ofsted category - in February 2011.

The Ofsted report, which follows the school’s best-ever GCSE and A-level exam results last summer, said: “Fearnhill School is a satisfactory school that has shown significant improvement over the last year. The school provides a supportive and inclusive environment for its students. The sixth form is good.

“Teaching has improved in the last year due a concerted programme of coaching and staff training. Inadequate teaching has been challenged by senior leaders and eradicated.

“Strong and effective leadership from the headteacher and leadership team has ensured a rapid rate of improvement. Decisive and effective actions have significantly improved the achievement, teaching, and the sixth form.”

Reacting to the news, headteacher Jed Whelan said: “As you can imagine, everyone here is over the moon with joy. It is rare for a school to rid themselves of the ‘special measures’ tag after just three Ofsted monitoring visits. On average schools take 18 months to come out of special measures and Fearnhill has done it in 13.

“This is truly the result of what can happen when all stakeholders in the school - students, parents and carers, staff, governors and community partners - come together in a common cause.”

Mr Whelan also paid tribute to Cllr Terry Hone of North Hertfordshire District Council, who joined the governing body, Sandringham School headteacher Alan Gray and the Hertfordshire Standards and School Effectiveness Unit for their training and support.

He added: “We are proud and pleased with the rapid progress we have made but we are not complacent. We know that there is still much work to be done before Fearnhill School is as good as we know it can be.

“Getting ourselves out of special measure is just the start. During the coming year it is our intention to relentlessly pursue our goal to become an outstanding school.”