A DRAMATIC turnaround at a Basingstoke school has seen it lifted out of special measures to one now rated as ‘good’ by government inspectors.

Just over a year ago a damning report by the school’s watchdog Ofsted branded the teaching at Four Lanes Community Junior School as inadequate with pupils failing to achieve.

The governing body was also criticised for not effectively holding the school’s performance to account whilst the behaviour and safety of pupils was also deemed to require improvement.

But 15 months on, staff and pupils are celebrating remarkable improvement after a glowing report praised the efforts of the school’s community in raising standards and attainment.

Ofsted highlighted the impact of leadership and management as a key reason for the school’s rapid improvement. The report also praised the work of staff to improve the quality of teaching and the educational progress of pupils across all age groups.

Inspectors also found:

  • The headteacher and senior leaders have worked closely together to bring about improvements in teaching. Consequently teaching is consistently good and continues to improve.
  • Senior staff successfully lead work in mathematics and English to ensure very good teaching and curriculum planning for all groups of pupils.
  • Pupils’ achievement has risen rapidly since the last inspection.
  • The behaviour of pupils is good because most are determined to work hard and consistently produce their best work.
  • Pupils are very keen to do well and show tremendous pride when showcasing their work to others.

In order to improve further inspectors said more teaching needs to be outstanding and more progress needed to be made by disadvantaged pupils.

Corinne Martinez, headteacher of the school, in Hanmore Road, Chineham, said she was delighted with the outcome.

She said: “The inspectors recognised our drive for dramatic improvements and witnessed how we give our children a high quality educational experience.

“Our end of key stage results in 2014 were the highest in over five years and this year the pupils are set to do even better. I am extremely proud of the staff and pupils at my school and am pleased that all their hard work has been reflected in this Ofsted report.

“Looking to the future, we have robust plans in place to ensure we not only maintain our current position, but improve further.”

Matthew Bailey, the chair of governors added: “The past two years have seen great progress across the school. There was a change of leadership and a new staffing structure put in place, leading to a transformation in ethos and drive for improvement.

I would like to thank the staff and governors for the dedication and commitment they have shown to the school over the past two years.”