Teachers at a Brighton school were honoured just a year after it was put on special measures.

Ofsted inspectors ordered Woodingdean Primary School to improve standards last year and it drew up an action plan for improvements. Little did they know however, that they would be invited to meet the PM at Downing Street to receive an award for becoming one of the most improved schools in Britain.

Head Jackie Pendergast met him to receive a certificate along with staff from 40 other schools throughout the country. She said: "We are all elated by this. The award is not just for me but for the staff and the children themselves.

"I am lucky to have a dedicated team who wanted to take the school out of failure and into success. Without their support, I could not have done it. When we first went into special measures, we knew we wanted to come out again as quickly as possible, we owed it to the children.

"They only have one chance of a primary school education and it has got to be the best possible. I think this was the driving force behind our success. The children are much more focused on learning now. They know they are coming to school to learn and that is a significant shift in attitude.

"Their expectations have been raised considerably, the levels of achievement have gone up and results have improved."

Mrs Pendergast puts the school's dramatic turnaround down to small but crucial changes. Catch-up classes in numeracy and literacy were started and the school concentrated on improving its levels of achievement.

It also received backing from Brighton and Hove education authority that led to extra staff training and increased teacher expertise. The work paid off and a glowing Ofsted report followed in October 1999. It led to an invitation to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister and education secretary David Blunkett.

Mrs Pendergast said: "We joined representatives from 35 improved schools in the state room at Number 10. We were each presented our certificates individually and thanked for our efforts by the Prime Minister."

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