Waterhead's turn to get a caning

Waterhead Academy

WATERHEAD Academy has become the second Oldham school within a month to be put in special measures.

Ofsted inspectors said it is failing to give pupils an acceptable standard of education.

And the academy has been told that it is inadequate (grade four) and was being placed in special measures, the lowest Ofsted category.

This month Ofsted also put Failsworth School in special measures.

The education watchdog says that the quality of education at Waterhead, which is run by Oldham College, has got worse since it was judged to require improvement (grade three) nearly two years ago.

Teaching is inadequate with the proportion of pupils getting good GCSE grades being much lower than the national average and has declined in the last three years.

The brightest pupils do not get good enough GCSEs, while disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs underachieve.

Behaviour is also criticised. Many lessons are disrupted, there is too much homophobic language and pupils are boisterous.

Ofsted adds: “During the inspection there were incidents which showed lack of respect for adults and for each other, for example swearing loudly within earshot of inspectors, running down corridors and generally failing to comply with the rules of the academy.”

Attendance is improving but is too low, pupils are frequently late for lessons and exclusions, although falling, have been too high.

The inspectors have also called for an external review of how the school has spent £500,000 pupil premium funding from the government — money to help disadvantaged children do better.

However, the academy is praised for raising pupils’ aspirations, its catch-up reading programme, its regain centre which offers alternative provision and pupils’ achievement in PE, religious studies and creative media.

Ofsted says it has successfully tackled racial and interfaith tension since replacing the largely segregated Counthill and Breeze Hill schools.

Students mix well and principal Colette Macklin, who was appointed in September, is praised for improving staff morale.

“She has clear and well-informed improvement plans to raise the quality of teaching and quicken students’ progress.”

Oldham College principal Alun Francis said: “Although we accept the judgement, it is important that this is set in context.

“Results at Waterhead, if we use the same measure as was used when it started, are twice as good over the last four years as they were at the predecessor schools in the previous four years. But the goalposts have moved, so we need to move twice as quickly.

“We had already been concerned that progress wasn’t quick enough and had put in place a series of interventions. But they don’t work by magic; it takes a little time.”

Earlier this month Oldham schools were told by Ofsted to urgently improve standards after figures showed that just 36 per cent of pupils attended a good or outstanding secondary in 2014, the third lowest figure in England.