A secondary school that was given the worst possible rating by Ofsted last year has moved out of special measures.

The North School in Essella Road, Ashford, was graded ‘inadequate’ in all areas when the damning report was published in February 2014.

Its then head teacher Lesley Ellis was removed and experienced executive head Jon Whitcombe was brought in to oversee the running of the school until improvements were made.

This week, new head teacher Nicki Hodges sent a letter to parents telling them the good news.

She said: “I am writing to inform you that we have had a HMI monitoring visit this week. On the first day they decided they should change this to a full section 5 inspection.

“As a consequence of the visit, I am delighted to be able to confirm that we have officially been taken out of special measures.

"Whilst I cannot give you the judgements until the report is published, I can tell you the lead inspector made it very clear that we have done exceptionally well as a school to make the journey out of special measures in 16 months. This process would normally take two to three years.”

Mrs Hodges said the school would continue trying to improve, but was pleased Ofsted had recognised safety, leadership and management, The Laurel Centre and the sixth-form as the school’s strengths.

She added: “I would wholeheartedly like to thank parents, staff and also the students for their continued support of our school journey over the last year and to congratulate you all on this result.”

An interim report, known as a section 8, was published last May, which said the school was making good progress towards coming out of special measures.

Mr Whitcombe, who is still overseeing the school’s improvement, was delighted with the speedy progress.

Speaking to the Kentish Express after this week’s news, he said: “The inspectors have recognised the tremendous progress the school has made in a very short space of time.

“We are well on our way to making a full recovery and I’m delighted and so grateful to the staff, pupils and parents. This is something the whole town should be pleased about and happy with.”

Mr Whitcombe was remaining tight-lipped about what grade the school was likely to be awarded in the upcoming Ofsted report, but added: “This is no longer an inadequate school.”