CHANGES are already underway at a school told it needs to improve by inspectors, according to the headteacher.

In the latest Ofsted report published yesterday, the Kingsdown Academy, in Stratton, was told that it needs to improve across three areas, including in the achievement of pupils, the quality of teaching, and in the leadership and management of the school.

The rating, which came after an inspection in July, was unchanged from the school’s last grading, two years ago.

They even said that some students could not read well enough to handle the work effectively.

Ofsted inspectors said in the report: “Since the previous inspection, students have made too little progress so they have not achieved as well as they should have done.

“The most-able students do not achieve their full potential. In 2012 and 2013, the percentage of high GCSE grades was below, or well below, average in most subjects.

But inspectors did award the school a grading of good when it came to the behaviour of pupils and acknowledged the hard work the school had done to make improvements since the last inspection in 2012.

In the report, Ofsted said: “After the previous inspection, governors and senior leaders moved into a higher gear. This gathered momentum from September 2013.

“There is convincing evidence that progress and standards have steadily got better since January 2014.

“The quality of teaching and learning, and the effectiveness of middle leaders, have improved in the last 12 months.

“Students feel safe and behave well. They are polite and get on well together. In most lessons, they work hard and are keen to learn.”

Wendy Conaghan, headteacher at the school, said: “It wasn’t an unexpected report.

“The grading we got last time is exactly the same but what I don’t think a lot of people realise is how the frameworks have changed. It was a different framework from when we had the last inspection in 2012 and Ofsted have introduced another new framework on September 1. Ofsted keep moving the goalposts meaning that standards should improve generally but what it means in the meantime is that despite any improvements we have made they do not fit with the same framework.

“We accept the judgement and we aren’t complaining about it, and we are already making the improvements we need to.

“Even before they came in we had an action plan in place.

“There have been a lot of staffing changes over the past year and one of the things we most struggle with has been maths teachers. There is a general lack of maths teachers but we are now fully staffed as of this September.”

To read the report yourself, you can download it from www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/137265.