A PRIMARY school celebrating being one of the 100 most improved in England.

Four years ago, Fairhouse Community Junior School in Long Riding, Basildon, was in the 200 worst-performing schools.

But hard work by staff and pupils saw it achieve the 46th biggest improvement in Key Stage 2 results between 2008 and 2010 in the country.

The results are based upon the biggest rise in the percentage of pupils gaining Level 4 grades in maths and English.

Headteacher Jenny McCutcheon said: “This is such an achievement.

“It clearly shows the hard work and dedication put in by the staff and children.”

She said a number of actions had made a difference to the school’s grades, including recruiting a high-quality team of teachers, providing opportunities for teachers to improve their qualifications, taking advice from independent and local authority consultants and support from school governors.

Schools minister Nick Gibb wrote to the school, congratulating staff and pupils for their “excellent performance”.

He said: “Mastery of English and mathematics is critical to success at secondary school and beyond, so these pupils have given themselves a really good start for secondary school.”

The school was the third most improved in Essex, behind De Vere Primary School in Castle Hedingham, and Bradfield Primary School, in Manningtree.

Rochford Primary School was 91st in the list of 100 improved schools.