Coombe House school near Shaftesbury appears to be overcoming its ‘bumpy’ start a year ago.

It led to the doors being, unexpectedly, closed shortly after opening, the loss of some key staff including the head, and sixteen pupils not returning when the school re-opened.

Dorset councillors heard that enough teaching staff have now been recruited for the start of the September school year and the school is reported to be confident of attracting adequate teaching assistants by that time.

But pupil numbers, although improving, are still down on initial projections.

The Dorset Centre for Excellence, which runs the site, says that by the end of the current term the school will have 56 pupils and, in a survey, existing pupils were overwhelmingly positive about their experiences.

Dorset Council had committed to having 100 pupils as part of its plan for the site which it bought for more than £10 million after the former St Mary’s private school closed.

Councillors at the Centre for Excellence shareholders panel on Monday heard that overall there was an improving picture as the school prepared for a fresh Ofsted inspection, a follow-up from a previous visit which was critical of some aspects and needed to be persuaded that the business met independent school standards.

A two-day privately commissioned pre-inspection by a former Ofsted inspector was reported to have been positive, increasing confidence that all standards were likely to be met.

Board member Stuart Jones, who chairs the Centre for Excellence commercial and community engagement committee, said it remained important to improve income from non-core activities on the site which would support, and be in-tune, with the special school.

He said that 5-6 different ideas were being progressed including the potential use of the former headmaster’s house as a high-dependency children’s home and use of the pool for swimming groups in Shaftesbury, although neither idea had been concluded.