A Carlisle secondary school held its first community coffee morning so guests could see the improvements it has made.

Parents of primary school children and neighbours of the Richard Rose Central Academy on Victoria Place were invited to attend.

Guests were welcomed by Principal Stephen Gilby who explained how the academy has improved and how students are supported to achieve the best possible results.

They were also given a tour of the campus to see first-hand what life is like for children attending the academy.

The tour included a visit to the areas of the school damaged by flooding in 2015 which have been refurbished with new equipment.

It also included visits to classes to see students learning.

Mr Gilby said: "Central Academy is at the heart of the community it serves.

"We wanted to give our guests the opportunity to visit us during the normal school day to get a feel for what life is like for students at the academy.

"Parents of those attending our partner primary schools and our neighbours were invited to see first-hand the improvements that are being made at Central Academy."

Government league tables published in January showed for the first time the progress that students make during their time at school.

The new measure, called Progress 8, places Central Academy ahead of other schools in the city and 9th out of 61 secondary schools in Cumbria.

Mr Gilby said: "The academy has made huge improvements, and it is important that we share our success with parents of prospective students and our neighbours."

Guests found out about the measures taken to improve the quality of teaching and learning as well as a range of interventions designed to improve student behaviour.

“We do not allow the behaviour of any of our students to affect the learning of another," said Mr Gilby.

He added: "We have introduced a range of measures to encourage positive behaviour.

"Central Academy benefits from being part of a large academy group.

"We work closely with some of the country’s top performing schools and work as a team with the parents of children who attend our school to ensure that young people achieve the best results possible."

"We are delighted that so many people came to visit us.

"We will be holding another event at the end of term for those who couldn’t attend."

Progress 8 was introduced for all schools in 2016. It is a new secondary accountability measure.