A school told it required improved two years ago has undergone a transformation and is now a good school.

Ofsted inspectors told Defford-cum-Besford CE school that it was good across the board at a recent inspection.

They attributed this major improvement to good leadership and the ambitious vision, wise judgement and calm authority of headteacher Andrea Bailey, who came to the school in 2012.

The report said this leadership had boosted confidence in staff who were proud to work at the school.

The school had linked up with other local schools which had helped new subject leaders and other staff share practice and learn from a wider network of teachers.

Staff were particularly praised for the school's outdoor learning which allowed all children to experience feelings of success and grow in confidence.

Inspectors found teaching was good with some excellent practice and pupils who started from widely different levels all made good progress.

Topics were interesting and relevant and the most able pupils were challenged well.

The quality of teaching and leadership in the early years class was excellent.

In 2015, the end of Key Stage 1 assessment results were well above average, with the most-able pupils doing particularly well.

However, some of the middle-ability pupils in years 3 and 4, were said to struggle to keep up at times because teaching did not take full account of their current level of understanding.

This tended to happen more in maths where the children's progress wasn't as consistent as in reading and writing although the most-able did well in maths.

Pupils were also not always careful enough with their handwriting and presentation although this was improving.

Inspectors found pupils were well behaved, polite and respectful and enjoyed school.

Disadvantaged and disabled pupils were well catered for.

A few pupils were said to miss school too often.

Information given to parents about what was happening at school was superb.

Inspectors praised governors and said they had stood by the tough decisions required to make improvements at the school.

Headteacher, Andrea Bailey said: “This Ofsted report recognises the relentless hard work and commitment of everyone at this school.

"Staff, governors, children and families, along with colleagues from our cluster schools and our external partners are all delighted with the outcome.

"The report underpins our core belief that children deserve nothing less than the best quality education.

"We are pleased the report evidences how much has been achieved in a short period of time to ensure that our children achieve learning outcomes which meet and exceed national expectations.

"Pupils develop a set of values that serves them well in their future lives.

"But it doesn’t stop there – now our aim is to focus on securing Defford as an outstanding school and pre-school.”