A Workington primary school will relaunch as an academy in the coming weeks as the next step in its fightback.

Northside Primary School will become an academy, supported by Dearham Primary School, on March 1.

The move was required by the Government after the school was rated inadequate by Ofsted in December 2015.

But Sam Kidd, the Dearham headteacher who was drafted in as executive head at Northside when the school was placed in special measures, said staff had already taken major steps to turn around its fortunes.

That progress was recognised at an Ofsted monitoring visit last summer.

This is the next positive step towards securing the school’s long-term success, she added.

Mrs Kidd said: “Although Northside is in special measures, it hasn’t felt like a special measures school.

“It’s been absolutely brilliant. The children have been a delight from day one.”

The link up between Northside and Dearham has benefited both schools, Mrs Kidd said, with teachers sharing skills and experience.

New ventures for Northside have included a German exchange visit and the launch of a breakfast club.

Mrs Kidd said: “Staff have worked extremely hard to get the school to where it is now.”

The change to academy status means that the existing Northside Primary School will officially close at the end of February and reopen as a new school on March 1.

It will have a clean slate with Ofsted, like all new schools.

But Mrs Kidd said there would be little change in reality.

The school’s name, staff and uniform will remain, and the existing governors will become the academy’s local governing body.

John Moffat, chairman of governors, said: “I am pleased that the school finally has stability in its leadership and the expertise to provide the children of Northside with the education that they deserve.

“We are already seeing the benefits of the partnership between Dearham academy and Northside, and I have every confidence that the school will continue to improve under this partnership.”