THE principal of Skipton Academy says the future of the school looks brighter than it has for many years after being taken out of special measures.

Following its third monitoring visit after being judged inadequate by Ofsted in 2017, the school, which has 292 pupils on its roll, is no longer deemed to be requiring special measures, although it is still in need of improvement in all areas.

While the three strong inspector team, who spent two days at the school in March, acknowledged that it was improving under the leadership of principal, Richard McManus, there are still inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, in pupils' personal development, welfare and outcomes.

Although the rate of pupils' attendance is improving, it is still below the national average, and pupil behaviour is 'not consistently good' with some lessons still disrupted by 'low level misbehaviour'.

Meanwhile, leaders have improved the school since it was judged inadequate in 2017, and have the capacity to improve it further.

Morale amongst the staff was judged to be 'high', they are 'motivated' and believe in their leaders' vision for the school.

Pupils feel safe in the school and for the last two years, they have made progress in GCSEs across a wide range of subjects in line with the national average and with most pupils making strong progress in maths.

Mr McManus said being taken out of special measures was an important step and that the future of the school looked brighter than it had for many years.

"I am pleased that the improvements in all areas judged inadequate have been recognised by Ofsted and feel this is an important step in our journey to providing a consistently good and then outstanding comprehensive school."

He was however well aware there were still areas that needed to be improved.

"Both I and the committed staff will continue to develop those areas to ensure that the young people who come to our school are given an education that equips them for the future.

"The Ofsted team have recognised the 'decisive and effective action to improve the school' taken by the leadership. They refer to a new culture of 'unity' and 'clarity' among the staff that leads them to describe The Skipton Academy as a school with a broad and balanced curriculum… with a number of extra-curricular opportunities.

"The future for The Skipton Academy now looks brighter than it has done for many years.

"I would like to thank all the students, parents, staff and governors who have worked so hard to ensure that the school described in the 2017 Ofsted report has been transformed in a relatively short period of time. The challenge that faces us now is to build on our success while recognising we still have areas we need to improve and to focus on them relentlessly until we reach our goal of helping every student who comes here to reach their full potential and be prepared for modern life as a valuable member of the community."

Robert Bellfield, chief executive of the Craven Educational Trust, said: “I and the trust are delighted with the progress The Skipton Academy has made towards becoming a good school. The recent Ofsted report is an important step and reflects the hard work and commitment of the senior leadership team, staff, students and parents.”