STAFF and pupils at a former failing school on Teesside are celebrating after being named among the most improved in the country.

Nunthorpe School, in Middlesbrough, was placed in "special measures" following a damning Ofsted report in 1996.

By March 1999, it had improved sufficiently to be released from the programme.

Now the school has come full circle to appear among the 25 most improved schools in the Government's league table for Key Stage Two, with 92 per cent of pupils achieving level four or better in science.

Headteacher Christine Quinn said: "Everyone is delighted. We have put various strategies in place to improve teaching and learning.

"All the staff have worked hard to continually improve, and we are obviously very pleased with the results."

Commenting on the results for Middlesbrough as a whole, Councillor Geoff Connolly, Middlesbrough Borough Council's commissioner for education, said: "The figures are still below the national average, but Middlesbrough's results show we're closing the gap - and initiatives including literacy and numeracy strategies being developed in primary schools mean we are well placed to narrow that gap even further next year."

Meanwhile, youngsters at the Alderman William Jones Primary School, in Grangetown, were among 11-year-olds throughout Redcar and Cleveland who notched up the authority's best national curriculum test results.

The school achieved a 40 per cent improvement and Philip McElwee, headteacher, said: "The improvement in results over the past few years is due to excellent teaching and the motivated, hard-working children who have built consistently upon their achievements.