A SCHOOL which was placed in special measures 18 months ago is beginning to turn around its fortunes.

Ofsted inspectors have ruled that leaders and managers at Haltwhistle Community Campus’ upper school are taking effective action towards getting the school back on its feet.

Ofsted has published a report following a December monitoring visit to the campus, which caters for pupils aged nine to 13.

The report praises the impact made by Dr Judith Greene, who became executive headteacher in September.

Dr Greene was appointed by Bright Tribe, the multi-academy trust which is expected to take over as the school’s main sponsor in April.

She has been working alongside a head of upper school, appointed by the school’s governing body.

The report said: “The executive headteacher and head of upper school are ambitious for what the school can achieve.

“Together, they have begun to reverse the fortunes of the school and ensure a higher standard of education across the campus.

“While there remains a significant amount of work to be done, senior leaders are showing the tenacity, insight and capacity for improvement that has been so desperately missing over previous terms.”

Inspectors said that Dr Greene has prioritised the improvement of teaching, which is beginning to improve, but remains “highly variable.”

The report added: “While professional development, accountability mechanisms and staff appraisal are much improved, new strategies introduced to staff will take time to embed before they become a natural and confident part of daily practice.

“Teaching remains weak where lessons fail to acknowledge that, even within an ability set, pupils need different tasks to challenge their thinking and allow them to reach their full potential.”

“Senior leaders are aware that the momentum of change built over the past 12 weeks will need to be maintained for inconsistencies between subjects, year groups and pupil groups to be eradicated.

“Importantly, staff show they are willing to rise to the challenge because they appreciate the clarity of direction now being given by senior leaders.”

Inspectors said the teaching of English remains a concern, but acknowledged that strategies to address differences in attainment and progress were in their infancy. They said the teaching of maths was going from strength to strength and praised the behaviour and “unfailingly polite” attitude of pupils.