A secondary school in High Wycombe which went from an ‘Outstanding’ rating to being told it required improvements is now back in Ofsted's good books.

The Highcrest Academy has been praised by the education authorities and given a ‘Good’ rating following its latest inspection.

The Hatters Lane-based school, which was inspected in March, was rated ‘Good’ in all aspects, following improvements in the effectiveness of leadership and the achievements of pupils.

The school has had a history of changing Ofsted reports having been opened in 2001 as a replacement for the failing Hatters Lane School.

In 2010, teachers celebrated being top of the class with an ‘Outstanding’ rating but were left scratching their heads at the “unfair” required improvements rating they received three years later having converted into an academy in 2012.

School principal Shena Moynihan has now welcomed the improved rating and “complimentary” report.

She said: “This was an excellent report and judging by the consistently positive comments throughout the feedback, it is clear that the academy was not far short of being rated outstanding.

“It’s well known that Ofsted raised the bar on standards a few years ago and so this is a very good achievement."

Ms Moynihan added: “It is lovely that the report acknowledges the hard work of the staff, pupils, governors and parents.

“It is only through a team effort that we have achieved this successful outcome.”

Highlighting the school’s success, Ofsted inspectors praised a number of key areas, including leadership and management.

They said: “They have focused relentlessly on improving the quality of teaching and learning, with much success.”

Areas for further improvement included pupil progress in modern foreign language classes, the effectiveness of some subject leaders and the need to improve attendance records which are currently below the national average.

Ms Moynihan said: “When you read the full report, it is clear that Ofsted were very complimentary, indeed.

“They said that there were only three areas which prevented the school being outstanding.”

Chairman of governors Chris Turner added: “We know where we can improve, and we had already been making improvements in modern foreign languages, so we feel we are a whisker away now from being officially declared an outstanding school and will be working towards that for our next inspection.”