Wath Comprehensive School placed in special measures

Wath Comprehensive has been rated inadequate by Ofsted after a two-day inspection in March.

The report, published last Friday, said the previously “good”-rated school in 2011 needed to improve its study programmes for students aged 16 to 19, as well as its handling for personal development, behaviour and pupils’ welfare.

Effectiveness of leadership and management and quality of teaching, learning and assessment were all rated inadequate.

Headteacher Jon Taylor said the school was “disappointed” with the “unexpected” outcome but accepted the inspectors’ findings.

Phil Smith, lead inspector, said Wath was “failing to give pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school”.

He added: “Leaders at all levels have an inaccurate and overly-generous view of how well the school is doing. The management of teachers’ performance is ineffective and fails to hold teachers accountable for the work they are doing.

“Governors do not have a clear enough understanding of their strategic role. 

“They are unclear how additional funding is being used or the impact this is having.”

Teaching is inadequate and leads to groups of pupils, including boys, disadvantaged pupils, the most able and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, making poor progress over time, the report added.

Mr Smith said pupils were progressing poorly in a wide range of subjects, including English, mathematics, history and geography.

But he praised extra-curricular activities and said the leadership of the sixth form had improved.

Mr Taylor said in a letter to parents: “We are now in special measures as a result of this and so we will become an academy in due course. 

“Further details about this academy status will be made public by the Regional Schools’ Commissioner once a decision has been made about the academy sponsor.”

The headteacher said there was a lot to be proud about at the school “but clearly it can do better”.

One angry parent said: “Parents haven’t been consulted on the academy conversion, which I think will be disastrous and the school will just be picked up by someone who deals with schools in special measures and not schools that really do something.”

A council spokesman said: “It is Department for Education policy that all maintained schools which are deemed inadequate by Ofsted end up being made academies.”