A north Cumbrian secondary school is making good progress in tackling issues raised by inspectors.

Beacon Hill Community School in Aspatria was rated as requiring improvement following an inspection by Ofsted last autumn.

But during a follow up visit, carried out on April 22, the school was found to be taking effective action to tackle the issues raised.

Deputy head Danny Gee said everyone was delighted with the feedback.

He hopes that by the time inspectors conduct their next full visit – likely to be in the next 12 to 18 months – they will have moved up to good.

Ofsted’s Alan Torr has written to the school following his visit, stating: “Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement in order to become a good school.”

His finding praises the work that has been carried out to boost attendance levels, with improved systems in place to monitor absence.

As a result the number of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced.

Beacon Hill is also working more closely with its local primary schools, with its teachers now going into junior schools to teach subjects such as French. This will help improve the transition for pupils.

There has also been a focus on the progress, attendance and wellbeing of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

As a result, the inspector found signs that this group is making accelerated progress.

Mr Torr added: “The local authority has reduced its support for the school because it is making good progress.”

Finally he set out three areas still requiring further action, two of which relate to strength-ening the governing body and another relating to the school’s improvement plan and how it should be revised.

Mr Gee said it was reassuring to see that the inspector did not flag up any issues relating to the quality of teaching.

He explained that the school generally struggled in league tables as pupil numbers weere lower than a lot of other secondaries – meaning the percentages were easily brought down. Yet locally, Beacon Hill is among the best performers in English and maths.

Tables showing the percentage of pupils reaching expected levels in those subjects put Beacon Hill third in English, just behind Keswick School and Wigton’s Nelson Thomlinson, and fourth in maths.

Mr Gee said the focus was now on improving standards in humanities and French, with new teams already in place.

And he is hopeful that as it continues to make progress, the school will soon have the data needed to prove it.

He added: “The letter is a big boost. Quite often these letters can be a bit bland but this is the most positive I’ve seen. What we now want to do is move up to ‘good’.

“In terms of teaching and learning we know things are solid. We’ve got the right team in place. There are strong staff in all departments.”

Beacon Hill also has specialist support from both Keswick School and West Lakes Academy.