The headteacher of a school that was criticised by government education inspectors has been praised for turning round its fortunes.

Simon Coupland, chairman of governors at Broadwater First and Middle School, Worthing, said it was with enormous pleasure that he could report the school had been taken out of special measures.

He said: "All this has come about as a result of a tremendous amount of hard work by a lot of people.

"Janet Sharp, the headteacher, obviously deserves a lot of credit.

"She has worked tirelessly since her appointment in the summer and achieved a huge amount.

"But she would want to underline the fact that she was building on the work of her predecessors, Rose Benwell and Pat Fuller, and that an awful lot of the work has been done by the school staff, who deserve a huge vote of thanks.

"The governors, too, have put in many hours of unpaid work to oversee the school's improvements and to increase their own effectiveness.

"This marks a significant milestone on the school's journey but it certainly isn't the end of the road.

"We were told by the local education authority when we went into special measures that we would be a much better school at the end of it and that is undeniably true. But as we look towards the future, we believe Broadwater School can and will continue to go from strength to strength."

Teachers, parents, children and governors attended a service at the school to celebrate being taken out of special measures.