A village school criticised for having “serious weaknesses” two years ago is celebrating a dramatic turnaround in performance. Government inspectors have raised the rating of West Winch Primary by two grades to classify it as a good school, with outstanding test results both this year and last, when it was in the top seven per cent of schools across the country.

A village school criticised for having "serious weaknesses" two years ago is celebrating a dramatic turnaround in performance.

Government inspectors have raised the rating of West Winch Primary by two grades to classify it as a good school, with outstanding test results both this year and last.

The school's latest Ofsted report says children are achieving and behaving well, enjoy going to school and contribute well to their local community.

Teaching and learning are good and the school benefits from strong, incisive leader-ship and management.

The inspectors also praised the impressive way govern-ors fulfil their responsib-ilities, the support from Norfolk County Council as local education authority and the school's "very good" capacity for further improvement.

Head teacher Tony Rist said: "We are over the moon that after two years of really hard work Ofsted has moved us up two grades to officially be a good school.

"The inspectors were impressed with our recent SATs results, which in 2005 were brilliant. Our value-added score - the measure of pupil progress - took us from the bottom 20pc of schools in the country in 2004 to the top seven per cent of schools in 2005."

Governors' chairman Anita Franklin said: "In two years we have turned the school around and we are now a good school. We are all determined that when Ofsted come back in three years' time we will go one better and be an outstanding school."