A popular Leighton school has been told it must improve in the next two years after it failed to reach a “good” standard by Ofsted inspectors.
The inspection at Vandyke Upper School on April 24 ruled that the achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and its leadership and management all “require improvement”.
The behaviour and safety of pupils was one out of the four key areas that was deemed “good”.
Teaching at the upper school was heavily criticised by inspectors, who said that “not all teaching is good” and “the work students have is not hard enough”.
The report also picked up on faults with teachers not asking questions in the classroom which help students think and failing to consistently plan for students to take an active part in the lesson. Although it was acknowledged that most teachers give feedback to students, often praising their efforts and suggesting ways to improve.
The head teacher of Vandyke Upper School, Tim Carroll, told the LBO his reaction to the Ofsted report.
Mr Carroll said: “Vandyke has earned a reputation as a school where students work hard, behave well, achieve well and enjoy coming to school. The inspection report highlights some of the school’s strengths.
“It also identifies areas for improvement. The school is already aware of these areas and is working to improve rapidly in these areas.
“At the two previous inspections the school was judged ‘good’. The school has continued to improve since then.
“With the introduction of the new Ofsted inspection framework the bar has been raised. A small number of students were judged not to have made good progress and this was the determining factor in the inspection team’s overall judgement.
“We have to accept the report in its entirety and are already addressing issues identified.”
However, Ofsted ruled that students “do not learn as well from their work”.
It was stated that too few students achieve the highest grades in their examinations and that achievement is not yet good because not enough students make good progress.
Fewer students gained A*-A grades, including in English language, and attainment at A*-C in some of the foundation subjects was below the national averages.
The sixth form also requires improvement because it is believed students do not consistently achieve as well as they could in their different subjects because the quality of teaching varies.
Although it was recognised that results in the sixth form in 2012 were better than in previous years, “students’ progress in different subjects is uneven because not all teaching is good”.
The outcome of the inspection comes under two years after Vandyke was among the first upper schools in the country to be granted academy status by the government.
Across two days last month, inspectors observed 39 lessons taught by 38 teachers and took account of 47 responses to the online questionnaire called Parent View.
It was deemed that in order for the school to score better on Ofsted’s next visit, it will have to improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good.
It will also have to improve the achievement of students across the school, as well as the effectiveness of leadership and management.
Vandyke will now receive a full inspection within 24 months. The Ofsted report can be accessed at www.ofsted.gov.uk.