Leighswood School warned by Ofsted to do more to tackle exclusion rates and bullying

Standards have fallen across the board at Leighswood School in Aldridge in the last five years, inspectors say.

The school at Broadmeadow has been told by education watchdog Ofsted that it 'Requires Improvement' in almost every area, following last month's inspection, whereas it was 'Good' in all categories in 2012.

Criticism was levied at the behaviour in the school, which caters for 615 pupils.

The watchdog's report said: "The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Exclusion rates for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not reducing at a fast enough rate. Incidents of bullying and inappropriate behaviour are recorded.

"Records clearly show the actions that the school takes to deal with incidents and how parents are informed.

"However, although school leaders monitor behaviour over time, they do not evaluate this information effectively enough."

A fall in teaching standards was noted.

Read the full Ofsted report here

Ofsted said: "Leaders have not maintained the good teaching seen at the last inspection or raised teachers' expectations of what pupils can achieve.

"There is not yet a drive to ensure that pupils make accelerated progress.

"Teachers do not always use assessment information during lessons sharply enough to ensure that they quickly identify those pupils who are ready to move on in their learning or deepen their understanding."

Inspectors did highlight numerous positive aspects at Leighswood. Early Years Provision was rated 'Good' with Ofsted stating: "The early years leader has an accurate view of the issues that need addressing and has put in place effective actions to make sure that children make good progress."

School bosses were also credited with having "the capacity to improve the school".

And despite behaviour concerns the watchdog declared general pupil welfare was in good shape with the school promoting students' "spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well."

On behalf of the school ,a spokeswoman from children's services said: "The council is working in partnership with Leighswood to address the issues highlighted in the report.

"Our specialist education staff are working closely with the school to deliver a measurable improvement plan and all parties are confident that this action plan will address the areas that require some improvement."