The future appears to be bright for a “scrutinised” secondary school in Bourne End which was rebranded in the summer following a bad Ofsted inspection, with the headteacher claiming the fresh coat of paint was not just glossing over the problems.

Andrea Jacobson believes students are on target to achieving well when the exam period starts in a couple of months and said school inspectors are welcome to come back tomorrow to see the changes they have made.

Ofsted put the Wye Valley School, as it was formerly known, in the “special measures” category following an inspection in March 2013, but after being re-born as the Bourne End Academy in September, staff are hopeful they are now working at a “good level”.

Mrs Jacobson has told the Bucks Free Press the initial excitement is continuing into their second term as an academy as they bid to bring a wow-factor to the school.

She said: “Obviously we had the initial excitement when we came back with the new uniform, the new name and the rest of the rebranding, it was great excitement.

“I think where we are now is that we all feel that we are Bourne End Academy whether it is students, staff or parents.

“It flows properly even when we speak it and I think the feel good factor has permeated and has managed to last the transition, proving the change was not just gloss.

“There is a real sense of endeavour and purpose and I think it’s partly because we have managed to retain our excellent staff, but we also now have on board some great permanent staff.

“We have a much more stable staff room and there is a real sense they are starting to feel part of the community.”

As part of the transition the Bourne End Academy has become part of an Academy Trust alongside Wycombe High School, where Mrs Jacobson used to be assistant headteacher.

As well as the name change, students, staff and parents took part in a vote of what colours they should have for a new uniform while the school frontage was also improved.

The school is now looking to welcome Ofsted back in the autumn term after they have received their first official GCSE and A-Level grades following the rebranding.

Mrs Jacobson said: “One of the positives of being scrutinised so often by Ofsted is you can be very clear about what it is you need to improve on and in some ways it was a very helpful exercise.

“They have fundamentally endorsed the action plan we have put in place, so we are very clear on what we need to do.”

She added: “All we know if Ofsted say when you convert to an academy you won’t be inspected for four terms which means it is likely to be in our autumn term, but they can come tomorrow if they want.”