STAFF and pupils at Poole’s St Aldhelm’s Academy are “absolutely delighted” that their school has been rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted.

Inspectors praised the “stunning transformation” at the Herbert Avenue secondary school, which was placed in special measures and described as “dysfunctional and unsafe” 18 months ago.

But now, almost a year after being taken over by the Ambitions Academies Trust (AAT), the school is thriving and pupils have “exceptionally positive attitudes to learning” and pride in their school.

Ofsted inspectors recently spent two days at the school, observing 27 lessons and speaking to staff and pupils.

They noted that the school is an “outstanding educational establishment” and rated it as good in all five categories of the inspection, including effectiveness of management, pupil’s personal development and student outcomes.

Brian Hooper, chief executive of AAT, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the report and know that it will have such a positive impact not just on the pupils and staff but also on this community.”

Head girl Laura Jesionowska, 16, attended St Aldhelm’s before and after the school’s transformation.

She said: “I absolutely love coming to school now and also feel so much more confident about my GCSE’s.

“I’m really proud to be head girl at the school as I wanted to be part of the change so that I can look back one day and tell my children that I was part of the transformation that turned St Aldhelm’s into a great school.”

Deputy head girl Shanna-Rose Carlo, 15, hopes to work as a charted accountant in The City and thanks to the “improved teaching” she feels much more confident that her dream will come true.

And Varun Harpale, 16, was previously predicted a D for GCSE English but is now predicted an A - which he is very confident he can achieve.

AAT took over the school in June last year and put in a new leadership team, led by Sian Thomas. The school now has around 70 staff members and 342 pupils.

Mrs Thomas said: “This is just the beginning for us. We may have achieved our goal of getting out of special measures but we always tell the pupils that high expectations lead to high achievements so we will keep improving in order to reach outstanding.”