CHEADLE High is one of the most improved schools in England - just 10 months after it was taken out of special measures.

The Station Road school features in the Government's top 100 for sustained improvement, judged on year-on-year increases in GCSE results.

But it also features in the bottom five per cent nationwide for what is called value-added education, according to league tables released last week.

Executive head teacher Keith Hollins insisted that the progress must be maintained but added: "There has been significant improvement on last year in every single area."

The school went into special measures in March 2007 when Ofsted inspectors reported weakness in performance and inadequate teaching.

A link was established with Westwood College, Leek, in January, 2008 and Cheadle High left the failing list two months later.

Last summer 60 per cent of its 163 Year 11 students achieved five or more GCSE grades A* to C, and 96 per cent of the students left with a qualification.

Mr Hollins said: "About 40 per cent of schools who come out of special measures go back in the next two years, but that is clearly not the case here.

"We came out of special measures in under a year, which is almost unheard of, and there has been a huge jump in results.

"We need to sustain this performance and improve on it."

However, the school has received a score of 969.6 compared with an average of 1,000 for contextual value added (CVA) - which is based on what a pupil is expected to achieve and their actual results.

Mr Hollins said: "People take one look at this figure and automatically see something is wrong.

"It is obviously disappointing to us, but the basic reason is the curriculum the school had for a number of years, which is impossible to change overnight.

"The figure is calculated over a student's best eight subjects but we had a considerable number of children who took a course alongside only five GCSE subjects. I make no apologies for that as it has been very worthwhile."

Mr Hollins also referred to 12 'school refusers' who moved into the catchment area, four times the normal rate.

He said: "The law states they have to go on a school roll but often you never even meet these children.

"They don't sit any exams and that counts as a straight zero on the CVA calculation.

"We could try to refuse to admit them, but the governors and I believe it is our moral duty as it allows them access to home tuition."

Although Mr Hollins insists a more sophisticated system would show a CVA score considerably nearer 1,000, there are plans to improve the mark.

Each Year 11 pupil predicted to get grades on the borderline between C and D will have catch-up classes and a mentor on senior staff. There will be student assessments five times a year.

Mr Hollins said: "It is about changing the curriculum to respond to needs. The partnership with Westwood lasts a minimum of five years, but now both schools are learning from each other.

"Cheadle received a separate maths pass rate of 71 per cent and English pass rate of 80 per cent, which is way above the national average, and the ideas from here are being adopted in Leek."