SENIOR leaders and governors at Acomb First School are taking “effective action” to tackle areas which were identified as requiring improvement.

That was the verdict of a monitoring inspection by education watchdog Ofsted after the school was given a “requires improvement” rating in its latest Ofsted report, published on January 11.

Six months on, and with former acting headteacher Angela Speed now permanently appointed to the post, progress is being made towards Acomb becoming a good school.

Inspector Suzanne Lithgow visited the school last month and her findings have just recently been made public.

In a letter to Mrs Speed and chairman of governors Chris Hamlin, she states: “Your school action plans have very clear actions identified that are designed to make improvements to the quality of leadership and teaching.

“The actions demonstrate an urgency to improve, but also an understanding that prioritising actions that will have the greatest effect on pupils’ learning is vital.”

She pays tribute to the “calm, sensible, yet rigorous approach” which has been adopted to ensure there is a “firm foundation in place for these improvements to be made”.

Meanwhile, the governing body has a new sense of “purpose and vigour”, with all of the changes “already having an impact on pupil outcomes”.