BY EMILY ROGERS

Governors of a Perivale Catholic primary school are celebrating after satisfied Ofsted inspectors said it no longer needed Government intervention.

St John Fisher RC School in Thirlmere Avenue was told at an Ofsted inspection two years ago that its unsatisfactory teaching and weak management meant that the school would have to be put on special measures.

But late last month, reporting inspector Anne Whitlam said standards at the school had improved considerably and it no longer was in need of special government attention.

'It's a blow when a school goes into special measures and it's been a hard slog for everybody, but we now have a strong management team and we're well on the road to success,' said Marianne Elliott, chairwoman of the school's board of governors.

New head Renata Cook, who has been a headteacher for 11 years and headteacher of St John Fisher School since September, said the key to improving standards, especially in English, science, and information technology, had been improving teachers' knowledge in each subject area, as well as boosting their confidence.

Ms Cooke said: 'We focused on developing the quality of teaching and looked at what the children were able to do to ensure the abilities of each child were challenged.'

St John Fisher RC School's new deputy head, Gillian Scannel, will join the school in September this year.