Low marks for school

A school in Kidderminster has been placed in special measures after government inspectors said it was failing to give children an acceptable level of education.

Heronswood Primary School was described as "inadequate" by Ofsted after the inspection in July. School bosses came in for criticism in the report which said that "too many children underachieve in relation to their capabilities".

But governors and staff today said they were stunned and disappointed by the report's findings.

About 300 pupils attend the school in Heronswood Road which was opened in September 2007 following a reorganisation of schools in the area.

The report says: "A major cause of underachievement is a weak and unstructured curriculum. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education.

"The school's overall effectiveness is inadequate.

"Too many pupils underachieve. The school's leaders do not undertake adequate monitoring to identify the reasons for pupils falling behind."

The report says parents of children in reception classes were delighted with the start given to their children but teaching standards at the school are described as "inconsistent".

The school's headteacher De Gemmell said today: "The school's regular monitoring sessions with the county council have given us no reason to think that our results on their own are any cause for concern.

"We acknowledge that inspectors found areas where we could further improve, and swift action has been taken to address these areas of weakness."

Chairman of governors Stephen Clee said: "We feel that Ofsted has focused on one or two problem areas that the school needs to look at. This report focuses mainly on the children in the middle years, where the findings on the early years children were good."