Education watchdog judges Lyon Park School as satisfactory

Staff, pupils and parents at a school in Alperton are celebrating after being taken out of special measures by education watchdog, Ofsted.

Inspectors judged Lyon Park Junior School, in Vincent Road, as ‘satisfactory’ but said it had many good features and the ability to improve following the visit at the end of June.

The report praised the school for its determination and insightful leadership provided by the headteacher and the support and commitment of other senior leaders, governing body and school staff.

The school had been in special measures since October 2009.

Nicola Yudin, headteacher, said: “We are all delighted. This is a great thing for the school and local community in Alperton.

“We are on the path to being a ‘good’ school, if not, an ‘outstanding’ one.

“Lyon Park has always been a happy school but now the children are learning more and are making much better progress while their behaviour is good and often exemplary.

“This achievement is down to the commitment and hard work of staff with the backing of the parents and community and I want to thank them all.”

The report highlighted the strong cohesion within the school and the appreciation pupils have of different faith and cultures leading to pupils feeling safe and bullying being rare.

Inspectors also praised the school for improving quickly which was shown through pupils catching up on past underachievement.

Cllr Mary Arnold (Labour), lead member for children and families, said: “I am delighted at how quickly Lyon Park has managed to turn itself around in a relatively short space of time.

“The hard work and dedication by all those involved is to be commended and I hope that they can keep the momentum going and become an even better school.”