A Sheerness primary school which has recently undergone a multi-million-pound expansion has been praised by Ofsted.

The education watchdog has commended the standards and management of Rose Street Primary School in its latest report.

Education inspectors awarded the 331-pupil school in Sheerness a “good” rating following a visit last month.

The school, which is part of the Sheerness West Federation with West Minster Primary School, achieved the same rating after its previous inspection, carried out in 2012.

“Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes in leadership and staffing,” wrote Ofsted inspector Margaret Coussins in a letter.

“Steve Davies, you were appointed in April 2015 as executive head teacher for both schools in the federation and you quickly identified there had been a decline in aspects of Rose Street Primary School’s performance since the last inspection and took decisive action to remedy this.

“The effective new leadership team that you have established shares your commitment, determination and ambition to forge further improvements.”

The report also highlighted pupils’ improved behaviour.

It said: “You successfully turned around pupils’ attitudes and behaviour, which had declined after the last inspection.

“Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school, and now have positive attitudes towards all aspects of their learning.”

To become an “outstanding” school, Ofsted recommended leaders should ensure the “most able pupils are sufficiently challenged” and that “teachers’ expectations are high” to make sure pupils achieve as well as they can.

Responding to the report, Mr Davies said: “We are very pleased. It’s better than we even could have expected.

“The two schools in the federation are in high deprivation but it doesn’t stop us from doing everything we can to improve these children’s lives.

“We have a truly dedicated team across both sites now and I’m very proud of everybody.”

Expansion was vital

Rose Street has recently expanded to become a two-form entry primary school.

This means the school roll will increase by 30 each year until it is at full capacity (450) in four years' time.

The new extension includes a dining hall and kitchen, five classrooms and toilets. Pupils can also enjoy an enlarged playground.

The building took about 18 months to build and pupils will move into it in September. The canteen is already being used.

Hazel Brewer, head of school, said: "About three years ago our population was expanding and because of the numbers, the local authority was pretty much forcing us to go over PAN (published admission numbers). We already had 30 in a class. We were just desperate for more room."

West Minster Primary School has also undergone an expansion. It now has six new classrooms, a new nursery and a speech and language unit.

The cost of the West Minster project was £2.67million and Rose Street cost £2.72million.

There will be more than 700 pupils across both sites when they reach full capacity.