A newly appointed permanent headteacher believes a Welwyn Garden City school could achieve an outstanding Ofsted report within three years.

Jed Whelan took over at Sir Frederic Osborn School in September on a temporary basis and this month he was announced as a permanent headteacher there.

Mr Whelan believes the school has what it takes to progress to outstanding.

Ofsted inspectors visited the school in June and July this year and gave it an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’.

However, they recognised that in some areas the school was already achieving a ‘good’ standard,

Mr Whelan said: “If we can continue this momentum on the same trajectory, I would feel confident that the school would be able to demonstrate that it meets many of the good criteria. My vision for the school is that it can be outstanding within three years.”