ABBEY Park School has been praised by Ofsted following an inspection last month.

On November 22 and 23, Ofsted carried out a special measures monitoring inspection at the North Swindon school, the first such inspection since it was put in special measures in September 2016.

The school, formerly Isambard Community School before entering into a formal partnership with Lydiard Park Academy earlier this year, had been labelled ‘Inadequate’ and told that it required serious improvement in a number of areas.

The areas identified as such during the 2016 inspection included, among others, the quality of teaching and learning, the urgent need to tackle racism and radicalisation among pupils and the improvement of student attendance.

But following last month’s monitoring inspection, Ofsted has reported that “leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures”.

Ofsted’s Andrew Lovett said: “Senior leaders have a very clear and accurate understanding of the school’s weaknesses and have set about addressing them in an ambitious but pragmatic manner.

“This experienced and skilful leadership has underpinned improvements across the school because teachers and pupils feel that they are in safe hands.

“The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is improving but is not yet of a consistently high standard. There are numerous examples of strong practice across the school that are leading to pupils making good progress.”

Addressing the shocking discovery of racism and extremism at the school, Mr Lovett was happy to report that “pupils act sensibly and with courtesy to others”.

He said: “The gaps in the curriculum around addressing the dangers of radicalism and extremism have been filled. Pupils report that they feel the school community is a safe and tolerant one.”

In response Jon Young, operational principal at Abbey Park, said he was “extremely pleased” that progress had been made and was confident that the school had a bright future.

He said: “We have put a lot of things right and it’s a testament to the hard working staff we have here.

“I’m sure this report will give parents more confidence in the school and it’s great to see the improvements we have made over the past year.”