The Community College Whitstable (CCW) is this week celebrating a remarkable turnaround in its fortunes after the school was rated ‘good’ by inspectors.

Head teacher Ana Gibson says she is “delighted” at the findings of the Ofsted report - which followed a visit last month - and has vowed the school is now setting its sights on becoming ‘outstanding’.

The non-selective in Bellevue Road was rated ‘good’ across the board, with inspectors praising the school’s leadership and the improved discipline in the classroom.

Three years ago, the school was told it ‘requires improvement’ after it slumped in league tables.

The previous report said students “were not prepared well for life in modern Britain” - pointing to poor behaviour and disappointing results.

It ultimately led to the then head teacher Helena Sullivan-Tighe being suspended from her £85,000-a-year job in November 2015 after an independent review was launched into the school’s performance.

Ms Sullivan-Tighe took Kent County Council to court and the suspension was dropped - although she subsequently confirmed she would not be returning to the school.

Since then, management of the school has been adopted by the Swale Academies Trust, following an approach by Kent County Council, with Ana Gibson parachuted into the head teacher position in May 2016 along with a fresh management team.

She had previously been at the Pent Valley School in Folkestone, where she had been sent in a last-ditch effort to turn its fortunes around before its closure.

At CCW, the Ofsted report says she has “transformed the culture of the school” and “acted with urgency and determination to raise pupils’ aspirations and teachers’ expectations”.

It adds: “Since her appointment, the head teacher has inspired staff, pupils, and parents and carers with her clarity of vision and her unshakeable belief that all pupils can succeed. She receives strong challenge and support from the executive headteacher.

“She has restored good order in classrooms and around the school. Building on these strong foundations, she has gone on to secure significant improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.”

The head said: "I am delighted with the urgency of the turnaround in the standards and all the hard work of pupils, staff, governors and the support of local parents.

“We are on a continuous journey of improvement within a high performing trust. This is only the start - we have very exciting plans for the future.

“The children of Whitstable deserve a world-class standard of education and we believe that this school will be the flagship of the Swale Academies Trust.

“We are determined to keep building and improving the outcomes for pupils. “Now we’re on to the next phase and that is to raise the bar to ‘outstanding’. We will not rest on our laurels. I’m here to stay and I’m determined to keep improving.”

Chair of governors Terry Hughes adds: “This Ofsted report is a reflection of the outstanding dedication and hard work of all the staff.

“In the three years since the last Ofsted report, CCW has become a beacon for education in Whitstable and the surrounding area.”

The school, which has seen a sharp rise in numbers, says it intends to complete its delayed move to being a permanent arm of the Swale Academies Trust this summer.