Ofsted put Wolverhampton school in special measures

A secondary school in Wolverhampton has been put into special measures after Ofsted inspectors judged teaching and achievement to be inadequate.

Senior staff were said to have had an 'overly positive view of the performance' of Deansfield School in Wolverhampton when the education watchdog visited during a wave of spot inspections in the city in June.

The report said 'too much' teaching at the school required improvement, while students' spelling, handwriting and grammar were described as 'often weak'.

The school had seen a sharp improvement in English and mathematics in 2013, but inspectors said the changes were 'not secure'. In her report, lead inspector Denah Jones wrote: "Progress rates in GCSE English have exceeded national figures since 2012 and about half of Year 11 made exceptional progress in 2013.

"However, information provided by the school suggests progress in English in 2014 will not be as strong next year and that results will fall."

She added: "In September 2013, all students in Years 7 to 10 took a test to find out about their literacy levels. About a quarter of students in each year group were found to have a reading age which is well-below their actual age. Not all of these students are given support to improve their reading. No information was provided to show what difference this support is making if any."

The school in Deans Road was given the lowest possible overall rating of 'inadequate' and placed into special measures. This means it will now be taken out of control of the local authority and become a Government-funded academy.

Headteacher Dean Coombes has vowed to improve the school's rating. In July he took the unusual step of writing to parents detailing Ofsted's findings two months before the report was made public. Mr Coombes said he had already taken steps to improve the situation, with a further group of inspectors due at the school in the coming weeks to offer guidance and support.

"Ofsted don't think all of our great English results are maintainable. It is up to us to prove them wrong.

"They took a view on the quality of our teaching which we don't necessarily agree with. There is work to be done here, but we are not broken."

The report also noted that 30 members of staff left the school in summer 2013 – with some not replaced to reduce staffing costs.

During the visit inspectors observed 25 lessons and spoke with staff, students and governors. Parents were also consulted via an online questionnaire – although only six responses were received.

The school caters for 514 pupils aged between 11 and 19.