LESS than two years after Government inspectors found it was failing, a special school has received a glowing Ofsted report.

Following an inspection in November, 1998, Sunningdale School in Sunderland was judged not to be providing an acceptable standard.

As a result, Sunderland Local Education Authority brought in a raft of measures, including two new governors, in a bid to rectify the situation.

It is that action which has helped to restore the fortunes of the school.

Sunningdale caters for pupils aged between three and 13 years, with 47 per cent of the children having moderate learning difficulties, 33 per cent severe learning difficulties and 20 per cent profound and complex learning difficulties.

The great strides the school has made has prompted Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools to say "that it no longer requires special measures, since it is now providing an acceptable standard of education for its pupils".

The school's clean bill of health follows its latest Ofsted inspection, which found that "pupils are making consistently good progress".

Inspectors also reported that the school now has "a broad, balanced, relevant and increasingly differentiated curriculum".

Teachers and non-teaching staff were found to have raised their expectations of what pupils can achieve.

The report also praised the headteacher, John McKnight, who had, said inspectors, shown "exemplary leadership".

Mr McKnight said yesterday that the inspectors' report "has provided a strategic vision and engendered a corporate sense of purpose among the staff".

In the summary of the main Ofsted findings it was also revealed that senior and middle management roles had also been successfully redefined to enable the large special school to be managed efficiently.

As far as the future is concerned inspectors advised that every chance should be taken to use information technology to support pupils' learning and communication skills