Thetford Nostalgia - Abbey Farm Middle School celebrates improvements after Ofsted inspection

In today's nostalgia we look back to 1997 when Abbey Farm Middle School in Thetford celebrated its improvements after a recent Ofsted inspection.

It came after headteacher Dominic Cragoe was told that his school was at rock bottom - shamed as one of the worst in the country.

The school was one of 18 to be singled out by the Education Secretary at the time, David Blunkett, in a ‘naming and shaming’ purge.

But the school was turning itself around following years of poor results and bad discipline.

Literacy levels were on the up and the school had a 97 per cent attendance record, which was above the national average.

Inspectors who visited the school to check Ofsted recommendations were being carried out said they were 'greatly impressed' at the improvements they had seen and said that pupil behaviour, once described as 'abysmal', had improved to an 'excellent 'level'. Standards in reading, writing and maths were also shown to have improved.

Mr Cragoe said: "We've made a lot of progress in the last two years and we are steadily improving. With a school like ours you can't expect to get good results overnight.

"Although our results are poor we have 200 problems to deal with while other schools may only have 10. Comparing us to other schools doesn't take account of our circumstances and in the long term just shatters staff morale."

As a stream of flowers, gifts and messages of support flooded into the school, parents were furious at the Government's announcement.