THERE were happy and relieved faces at Wadham Community School in Crewkerne this week, as they came out of special measures.

The school was put under special measures in November 2005 after the Somerset Local Education Authority said an OFSTED report found the overall effectiveness of the school to be 'inadequate'.

But measures were lifted last week after a full inspection showed the school to have sufficiently progressed.

Head teacher at the school David Derbyshire was thrilled with the result.

He said: "We had one of the regular monitoring visits where inspectors come into the school every term since we went into special measures.

"This visit turned into full inspection as they thought we were making progress.

"Then after a two day inspection, they decided measures could be lifted."

He added: "I'm delighted. The pupils were told by the head student team in a whole school assembly.

"We will be writing to all the parents, and the full report will be published in about three weeks.

"It's coming up to the end of term, so I expect we will hold some joint events to celebrate."

Yeovil MP David Laws also congratulated the school on their achievement.

He said: "This is very good news indeed, and I would like to congratulate David Derbyshire and all the staff, governors and pupils at Wadham on getting the school back on track.

"The school has come out of special measures somewhat earlier than was expected, and this is a sign of the improvements made over the last year.

He added: "Wadham school is capable of performing well above the national average, and I know that all those involved in the school will go on working hard to deliver the excellent education which local children deserve."

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