THIS time last year Regents Park Community College in Southampton had reached rock bottom.

Following a damning report by Ofsted, the school’s watchdog, Regents Park was placed in special measures which promptly led to the departure of both the head teacher and chairman of governors.

But a year on that same school has not only pulled itself out of the lowest possible ranking but inspectors thought the improvement so impressive they have rated it a ‘good’ school.

The fact it has gone straight from the worst ranking to one of the best secondary schools in Southampton is testament to the hard work of staff and students according to proud head teacher Jonty Archibald.

He said: “I just think it is fantastic and to do it so rapidly has been very special.

“I am so proud of everyone at the school because this has been about working together to create this great teaching and learning ethos that creates high expectation.”

The speed of the turnaround means that it is one of the fastest improved schools in the county, taking just over a year to improve by two categories when the average time it takes just to come out of special measures was 16 months according to Ofsted.

During their latest visit at the start of this month inspectors acknowledged the huge improvement in behaviour, teaching and achievement – all areas heavily criticised in the previous report.

They found: n Leaders and managers provide strong and effective leadership, including in crucial areas such as teaching and the management of students’ behaviour. This has led to rapid improvements since the last inspection, and provides persuasive evidence of the school’s capacity to go further.

Good teaching results in students achieving well in a wide range of subjects and enjoying their learning.

The good behaviour of the great majority of students in lessons and around the site reflected a renewed sense of pride in their school.

The school’s atmosphere and ethos for learning have changed markedly since the last inspection, and students are at pains to report how things have moved on.

Along with appointing Mr Archibald, previously the deputy headteacher, to the top job, Susan Trigger, the head teacher at Bitterne Park School was drafted in as executive head, as she has a history of helping to turn around failing schools in Southampton.

She said moving to ‘good’ in all categories was an “amazing achievement” and it had been an “honour” to work with the school.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo a number of changes were made to the school including overhauling the timetable, reverting back to Year groups and upgrading a number of features on the site at King George’s Avenue.

Mr Archibald added: “When we shared the report with the students they all cheered. I told them that they could go home and say they now went to a ‘good school’.

“We now want to become outstanding and will be stepping it up to achieve that.”

City council Cabinet member for education Dan Jeffery said: “I’m absolutely ecstatic for the school. Jonty and the leadership have been on a real journey of improvement and I’m really thrilled to see it has paid off for them.

“It’s good news for Regents Park and for the city.”