BRINGING a troubled school out of special measures within three months of taking over would be an impressive feat for any headteacher.

However, modest Daniel Gee – drafted in at Bromfords School, Wickford, last September – says says he sees it as nothing more than the start of an ambitious journey of improvement.

He believes the secondary school and its sixth form, both in Grange Avenue, will be rated “good” at their next next Ofsted inspections, with the top rating, “outstanding”, in his sights for the near future.

Mr Gee is reluctant to take too much credit for progress so far, as he believes the school was well on the road to recovery long before he arrived.

He explained: “I was quite confident Bromfords would come out of special measures from the first time I looked round, because I could see what a good school it was and how much potential it had.

“A school can be in special measures for as long as two years, so we were really pleased we came out at the first possible opportunity.”

Bromfords was placed into special measures – bringing frequent and close scrutiny from Ofsted’s inspectors – in March 2014, after the surprise resignation of head Marian Spinks in December.

Mr Gee said his biggest challenge so far had been improving the public perception of the school, and boosting the confidence of pupils and staff.

He said: “When a school is put into special measures, it can be really damaging for morale.

“The pupils are excellent ambassadors the school, but the original report didn’t reflect that.

“I was delighted for them when Ofsted told us we were coming out of special measures. They just didn’t deserve the negative connotations associated with special measures.”

When the good news came through, Mr Gee gathered staff and pupils in the school hall to break to to them – but that was as far as the celebrations went.

Bromfords still has a long way to go – and that is the view, not only of Ofsted, but also its headteacher.

During the latest inspection visit, in November, Ofsted found some teachers were still not strict enough on pupils who were still able to disrupt lessons.

The school was also told improvements were still needed to ensure marking of work was thorough, its teaching consistent and pupil behaviour was good.

Mr Gee stresses the importance of the head and other senior staff being seen around the school.

They even regularly patrol the corridors between lessons.

He runs regular teacher training sessions and is pushing hard to recruit the best teachers he can find.

Beyond that, however, he says he has no grand plan for the school – just “more of the same”

He explained: “It’s about high expectations and following through. We have to be clear about what we want from everyone.

“We are all focused on being the best school we can possibly be.

“We have to keep pushing. I think you should always strive to be better and better.”

Liverpool-born father-of-two Mr Gee studied history at the University of York, before moving to Essex to start his teaching career.

Spells in the classrooms of Thomas Lord Audley School, Colchester, the Plume School, Maldon, and Notley High School, Braintree, followed, before he was appointed head of the Ramsey Academy, in Halstead, a small secondary school which he managed to help improve.

However, he admitted he had long dreamed of running a big secondary school with its own sixth form.

There is no denying his success so far at Bromfords, and it looks set to continue, with parents once again so keen to send their children there that the school will probably be oversubscribed September's intake.

Mr Gee added: “Bromfords is unlike any school I have ever worked at before.

“The thing which has been particularly rewarding about this job is the community has been 100 per cent behind us.

“We’ve been encouraging parents to come and look around the school, and their responses have all been really positive.”