Nik Green, Brian Longland, James McMurray, Dee Nutt, Mary Shaw, Sheila Shribman, Steve Smith and Nick Thayre, former governors of Dartmouth Academy, write:

Thankfully the upheaval at Dartmouth Academy caused

by the new build, change of ­sponsor and staff restructuring is now over and the academy is about to enter a period of ­stability.

We are obviously very saddened by the overall outcome of the recent Ofsted inspection, Chronicle, November 27, but pleased that Ofsted recognised the Early Years provision to be ‘good’, as well as the actions that still need to take place.

We agree with Ofsted that the pace of improvement was not fast enough, particularly over the past year. As governors at the time we accept responsibility for our part in this.

Not being experts in education, we relied heavily on the external reviews that took place; and in our half-termly meetings, which were always attended by Academies South West leaders, achievement was never flagged as an issue that was not responding positively to the actions being taken.

As governors we never excused underachievement on social grounds, although we understood that some of our pupils did not have the resources to support their learning in a way that children of more affluent families had. Our decisions focused upon achievement for all.

As a governing body, we had an excellent mix of skills from parents and national leaders ­living in our community. We had prepared ourselves for our roles by taking the new national training for chairs and governors, which was highlighted in the press recently as important for modern governance.

Our minutes show that we challenged and focused on improving teaching and achievement by adopting the current government recommendations for best practice in national recruitment, and by learning from national schools with proven records of achievement in overcoming similar issues to ours.

In the summer term, the governors decided to provide daily nursery and preschool provision; the continuation of the free daily after-school educational support; the introduction of before- and after-school clubs; and the continuation of reasonable bus routes and times.

In our wish to open up the academy to the local ­community, we agreed hire charges and a range of catering providers for functions in the View restaurant, ensuring that the cost was affordable to all levels of the community.

We believe all these decisions were important and hope that they will be maintained.

Since joining ASW, we have had ongoing concerns, including ones about the future planned for the academy. We raised these again recently in a letter to all the directors of the trust board. Our concerns remain.

Now it is time to move on. The ASW board has taken the decision it is entitled to take with regard to governance at the school, and we believe that the interim advisory committee, which includes two parents from the original governing body, will continue the focus on raising standards.

Dartmouth Academy is more than a well-designed, purpose-built school. It is a local school with appreciative students who are happy to attend and eager to learn; staff who have always gone the extra mile to support them in every way; and caring parents who want the best for their children.

Standards will rise because of what has gone before, as well as from the changes that will follow. The children of Dartmouth and its surrounding areas deserve nothing less.