by Fiona Cooper

The smiles say it all!

A "challenging" journey to turn round a Sittingbourne primary school has been rewarded for the second time in three years.

Regis Manor Primary School, which seven years ago scraped only a "satisfactory" assessment from Ofsted inspectors, has been deemed "good" for the second time since 2008.

The latest Ofsted inspection, carried out at the school in Middletune Avenue, in July, described Regis Manor as having some outstanding features, including behaviour, care, guidance and support and spiritual, moral social and cultural development.

"The fact these are now graded as outstanding shows the school has continued to make sustained progress, especially as the Ofsted criteria is more stringent than when we were last inspected," said head teacher John Day.

"When I took over seven years ago this was a school with a poor reputation with run-down buildings and facilities, poor behaviour and several poor teachers," he added. "It is now a thriving and successful community with a fantastic indoor and outdoor learning environment, excellent resources and an excellent team of teachers and support staff.

"It's been a challenging journey to turn the school around from perhaps one of the least popular schools in Sittingbourne to one which now has an excellent reputation and thriving community."

The 356-pupil school, which has an above-average number of youngsters eligible for free school meals and with special educational needs and/or disabilities, was also described as having an outstanding range of extra-curricular activities.

Pupils' attendance was described as above average and much improved in the last year, with many saying they "loved" the school and "enjoy nearly everything about it".

Inspectors reported that staff and pupils got on together "exceptionally well" and described behaviour in and out of lessons as "outstanding".

"The quality of care, guidance and support is exceptional because the school responds successfully to the various needs of the pupils," said the inspectors.

"A strong ethos of inclusion pervades all aspects of school life, with excellent examples of work with different groups and reaching out to all families to maximize individuals' chances of success."