A Trowbridge primary school has been lifted out of special measures by Ofsted inspectors just a year after it was placed in them.

St John’s Roman Catholic Primary School headteacher Frank Toner is celebrating after changing the school’s fortunes.

It has been judged good with some outstanding features, and Ofsted has said it no longer needs to be under special measures.

Mr Toner, who has 303 pupils at his school in Wingfield Road, said: “We are delighted. The improvements are down to the exceptional hard work of the staff and the teamwork shown by the school community. We were able to build on changes started by the previous headteacher, Marian Morgan. The school achieved good results under her leadership last year and this was repeated in our SATS tests.

“We’ve had a lot of support from the local authority and other headteachers in the area. Not having taught in Trowbridge before coming to this school, I can really appreciate the way other headteachers in the town rally around to offer help.

“The Ofsted report is not an end in itself, but a milestone on the longer journey that we are taking at the school.”

The inspectors, who visited the school on July 5 and 6, were impressed by the pupils’ behaviour. They also reported that “in over a third of lessons seen on this inspection, the quality of pupils’ learning was outstanding.”

The report also drew attention to teachers making excellent use of assessment criteria to enable pupils to understand clearly what they need to do to achieve their targets and to improve.

Deputy headteacher Yvonne Currivan, who is responsible for assessment, said: “We introduced a process where pupils feel confident about assessing their own work which has enabled children to develop independence. The school will go from strength to strength. We are all very proud of our children’s achievements. It was great the inspectors recognised this too.”

Inspectors would like to see the school improve the rate of children’s progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and for school leaders to tackle attendance, which fell sharply in the past year.

In a letter to parents, Ofsted inspector Ian Hodgkinson said: “Our report judges your school no longer requires special measures. It is now a good school. It has made very rapid progress on all of the issues of the last inspection. “Your attainment is now above average and you achieve well.

“You are well taught and your learning in the classroom is good and sometimes outstanding. I wish you every success.”