Castle Community College is celebrating the news it has been taken out of special measures.

Deal’s only secondary school, which is run over two sites in Deal and Walmer, was told of the “remarkable” achievement after a visit by Her Majesty’s Inspectors before half-term.

Interim principal Jane Hadlow predicts Castle is well on its way to becoming a ‘Good’ school.

She thanked everyone involved in raising the school’s standards, adding: “It’s on to the next stage and the path to being ‘Good’ and truly great.”

It is now graded as ‘requiring improvement’, a significant step up after being placed in special measures under principal Philip Bunn in March 2014, just six months after the take over of Walmer Science College which left it vulnerable.

"Jane Hadlow is unwavering in her determination to provide the best quality of learning experience for the pupils" - HMI inspector Simon Hughes

The final Section 8 inspection was carried out over two days by Dr Simon Hughes, HMI. He judged five areas as requiring improvement, these were: Effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; outcomes for pupils; and 16 to 19 study programmes.

The school’s last inspection rated it as inadequate overall, although improvements have been made throughout the past two years, as part of staff’s bid to shake off the special measures grading.

Among Mr Hughes’ most noticeable observations, was that the college has become “a calm and orderly learning environment.”

He said it was “a remarkable turnaround in two years.”

The report also highlights that “teaching overall has improved markedly since the school became subject to special measures”

It says: “Leadership has halted the long-term decline of Castle Community College” and that “Leaders provided compelling evidence during the inspection that two years of focused effort is beginning to work. Pupils now have the resilience to keep going even when learning is tough.”

The report describes how pupils benefit from exemplary pastoral care and those facing personal challenges are supported extremely well in a variety of ways.

It also acknowledges that leaders’ work to keep pupils safe is impressive and that inspectors saw no examples of poor behaviour.

The report describes interim principal Jane Hadlow as being “unwavering in her determination to provide the best quality of learning experience for the pupils [and] the growth of the senior leadership team over the past two years is remarkable.”

Pupils told inspectors that bullying is now rare in the school and if it does occur, it is dealt with effectively and well.

Other accolades include: The careful site management of the long awaited new building programme; learners feel safe and secure on the 16–19 study programmes; they recognise the considerable changes that have been put in place for their benefit; learners say they like the support they receive and the opportunities to explore ideas and issues; staff do not give up on any pupils, even those with the most challenging behaviour; many “go the extra mile” to ensure that pupils are not easily distracted from learning.

The report says that in lessons, pupils are attentive and generally follow teachers’ instructions appropriately.”

“Pupils are very polite, courteous and respectful of adult visitors as well as their teachers. They talk clearly when spoken to and treat each other with similar levels of respect.”

The report comes at a time when the building work has started on the new school which is due to open in September 2017. The sponsorship of the school by SchoolsCompany Trust is imminent.

It is a branch of SchoolsCompany Limited, which has been supporting the school improvement work since the special measures announcement was made two years ago.

Castle Community College, soon to be known as The Goodwin Academy, is looking forward to a strong and successful future for all its students.

For the full story and reaction, see the East Kent Mercury on Thursday