Government inspectors have praised the improvements at Castle Community College after checking up on the school’s progress in a recent visit to both sites.

Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education published their report yesterday (Wednesday) on the Ofsted website. They commended they way the school is improving behaviour, and standards of teaching and learning.

They also noticed how calm the Mill Road and Salisbury Road sites felt compared to the description of the school in the previous report the led to the special measures judgement last March.

Interim Principal, Jane Hadlow, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the first monitoring visit and report. We are pleased that our initial hard work has been recognised and this sets us in the right direction as we move to come out of special measures.”

She added that the report should give the community the confidence to know the school is on its way up.

“The bar has been set very high for our second inspection which could be as early as January 2015. We are all up for the challenge” - Jane Hadlow, interim principal

Uniform and behaviour in lessons and around the sites has improved and the students behave sensibly around the school. The inspectors also commented on the politeness and courtesy of the pupils who they saw on their visit.

The effective support offered by SchoolsCompany Limited, especially in improving leadership, was noted.

“It is the right thing, in the right way and being carried out quickly and effectively,” she added.

“This has come about through hard work from everyone at the school and through the support of parents and students.

“This good news comes after a challenging year for the school with some tough decisions but greatly improved exam results.”

Chairman of governors John Baker said: ‘The governors of Castle Community College are delighted with such a positive first HMI monitoring visit report.

“We are under no illusion that we have a lot of hard work and a long way to go to achieve our desired outcome of being removed from special measures in the Autumn of 2015.”

The aim is to reach the Good measure.

“With the governors, staff, parents and students all working together as a community we will achieve our goals.”

Mrs Hadlow added: “The bar has been set very high for our second inspection which could be as early as January 2015. We are all up for the challenge. ”

• Castle has its annual open evening for prospective parents at Mill Road site tonight, (Thursday) between 5.30pm and 8.30pm.