A primary school ranked as requiring improvement two years ago has now been praised by inspectors.

Inglewood Junior School in Harraby, Carlisle, is now rated as “good” following an inspection by Ofsted.

Headteacher David Grimshaw they are delighted by the report, which highlights not only the improvements in learning and leadership, but also recognises some of the school’s special attributes.

For example, inspectors said that staff “show genuine warmth and care towards pupils”, and recognised that the children are enthusiastic about learning, well-behaved and proud of their school.

The report added: “Pupils, staff and parents are proud of their ‘amazing’ school. Every day is filled with a wide range of clubs, trips, visitors and activities so that the school buzzes with excitement.”

Inglewood Juniors had always been ranked good since Mr Grimshaw took over nine years ago. But its last inspection, about two years ago, saw it drop to a rating of “requires improvement”.

At the time he said everyone was devastated, but they moved quickly to act on the recommendations and improve.

Mr Grimshaw said a large part of the problem was league table data, which had improved within a few months of inspection. But they also worked hard to improve the way reading, writing and mathematics were taught, and strengthen and share leadership across the school.

He said it was a shame that all schools are judged in the same way, without taking into account the local area and demographics, such as deprivation, and the social and educational challenges they can bring.

But nonetheless, he feels that they have addressed all of the concerns previously raised by the Ofsted inspection team.

“The report is fantastic. You can go through the whole thing and there’s hardly a negative,” he told The Cumberland News.

“There are reflections about positive attitudes, teamwork and the ‘we can do’ mentality. There’s not one element of our school that didn’t get praised - from environment to behaviour, teaching to leadership.

“We’ve certainly got a lot of quality within the school. Subject leaders have worked hard to improve the quality of teaching.”

He was particularly pleased by a comment that pupils joining the school in year three now get off to a flying start as a result of teachers’ commitment. Mr Grimshaw added that although they knew they were doing a good job, it’s nice to get that formal reassurance.

“The school can stand up and be proud now,” he added.

The school was judged to be good in all four areas - leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; and outcomes for pupils.

The only areas flagged up that could be improved to make Inglewood Juniors an outstanding school were around strengthening the work of governors, and widening the genres being taught to pupils during their writing lessons to include poetry, plays and non-fiction.

Among those first to congratulate the school on its success was Paul Thorburn, of Carlisle-based office equipment firm Tech 4.

His company sponsored the school by providing 330 reusable books to help pupils improve their writing and reading.

He said: “They were looking for a sponsor. We supply their office equipment but I also used to be a pupil there so I wanted to help.

“The school should be congratulated. They have passed the inspection with flying colours.

“It’s a great school, there’s always a welcoming atmosphere and the teachers and children are great.”