SUPPORTERS of troubled Elbury Mount Primary School have continued to level criticism at the Local Education Authority this week, following the news that it has been taken off Special Measures, writes Paul Stammers.

The school had been given until October to pull its socks up but after a visit from HM Inspectors last week the decision was made.

Was I the only person surprised, not so much by the announcement, but by its timing?

The school's SATS tests will be known in a few weeks and surely the results would have been handy as an indicator of an improvement.

While the hullabaloo in the past six months has continued to sully Elbury Mount's reputation, the problem had to be confronted rather than ignored.

You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

Unless the director of education, Julien Kramer, had taken a firm stance and threatened the Fairfield Close school with closure, the likelihood was that the school would have continued its educational nosedive.

Now it is up to the school to overcome two further challenges.

Firstly, it must continue to show a willingness to improve and not take its foot off the gas pedal.

Secondly, there are a lot of people in the Brickfields community who have voted with their feet and taken their children elsewhere.

I think even the most ardent opponent of the LEA recognises that if the roll continues to dip it will be hard to justify keeping Elbury Mount, improving or not.