WATCHET'S Knights Templar First School has battled its way out of 'special measures' and into the good books of Government inspectors.

Just 18 months ago an Ofsted team ruled that the 156-pupil school was providing an unacceptable standard of education and inadequate standards of teaching, with youngsters in years three and four in particular making poor progress.

Managers, meanwhile, were found to have failed to demonstrate the capacity to secure the necessary improvements.

But within the last week - following a full re-inspection at the beginning of June - acting headteacher Heather Good received the news that the school was now deemed to be satisfactory overall - the third highest rating.

Inspector Grahame Sherfield told the school that it no longer required special measures.

"As a result of the committed, high quality leadership of the acting headteacher, the determination of all staff to address the school's weaknesses and carefully planned support from the local authority, Knights Templar has improved rapidly and is now providing its pupils with a satisfactory education," Mr Sherfield said in his report.

He also found that pupils' progress had improved significantly and was also now satisfactory.

Mrs Good, who is nearing the end of a four-term secondment from her permanent post as headteacher of Westover Green Primary School in Bridgwater, said she was absolutely delighted with the news.

"This is a well deserved report," she said. "It has been a pleasure to work with staff who have worked so hard for the pupils of this super school."

She said the future was bright for Knights Templar because the right systems were now in place, allowing it to continue to grow in effectiveness and move "onwards and upwards."

"This has been a thoroughly enjoyable challenge because all the staff have worked so willingly and so hard - there has been no resistance at all."

Mrs Good was drafted in to the school in April last year following the departure of the previous headteacher Keith Atkins, who was in post for just two terms before the critical Ofsted report.

The school's progress was hampered when Mr Atkins was taken ill in February 2009 and resigned the following month.

In his report, Mr Sherfield praised Mrs Good for carefully and systematically developing a senior leadership team.

Teachers were described as committed and enthusiastic, knowing their pupils well and being ambitious for further improvement.

In the best teaching, lessons proceeded at a good pace and teachers' enthusiasm was "infectious."

Mr Sherfield said that as a result of the improvements, children now made good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage - where leadership and management was good - and got off to a good start.

"The school has successfully improved the progress pupils make in English and maths by the end of year four as a result of rigorous and frequent monitoring of progress and teaching that is now good," he said.

Pupils were found to reach broadly average standards as they approached the end of year four, while a very effective blend of individual advice and support for staff, coupled with training and demonstration sessions with local authority staff and the existing strengths within the school had been used very well to improve teaching.

However, some satisfactory teaching remained, with a slower pace of learning and a lower level of challenge for some pupils, particularly the more able.

Pupils were found to behave well within a caring environment where their personal development was promoted well.

They enjoyed school and sensed and valued the improvements of the last 18 months.

Mr Sherfield said clear, detailed plans had helped the school take successful action to address its weaknesses and raise standards.

Although the school was rated satisfactory overall, its capacity for sustained improvement was said to be good, with a firm shared commitment to further improvements.

The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress was also found to be good, with the same judgement given to the extent to which pupils feel safe, their behaviour, their adoption of healthy lifestyles and their contribution to the school and wider community.

Governors, previously criticised for failing to provide a strategic challenge, were said to have established a monitoring plan to check the school's progress and were becoming more systematically involved.

Chairman of governors Sheila Clavey said she wanted to thank all the staff for "their dedication to the education of the children of Watchet" and her fellow governors for their support.

Frances Burns, currently in charge of both Exford and All Saints, Dulverton first schools, will take over the reins from Mrs Good in September.

She will have to deliver a raft of further improvements outlined by Mr Sherfield, which include accelerating pupils' progress in English and maths, improving the quality of all teaching to the level of the best, increasing the opportunities across the curriculum for pupils to improve skills in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology and providing opportunities for pupils to develop a better understanding of Britain as a multicultural society.