West Bromwich's George Salter Academy on the up after 'inadequate' rating

Staff at George Salter Academy were labelled as being 'unaware' of safeguarding pupils from 'extremism or radicalisation' in the damning report published in May.

However, a monitoring visit from the schools watchdog has said the academy, in Davey Road, is improving - helped by new headteacher Pank Patel, the former regional schools commissioner for the West Midlands.

The report says 'senior leadership has been strengthened by the appointment of the principal' while work has been carried out to fix safeguarding issues.

• Click here to read the report in full

It states: "The school's leadership has acted quickly to address the areas for improvement identified by the previous inspection regarding improving the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements in the school.

"Safeguarding procedures now have high importance."

Inspectors said 'staff demonstrate a high level of awareness of their safeguarding responsibilities' and 'pupils who spoke with inspectors said that they feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe in a wide range of situations'.

They also praised pupils' 'engagement in their learning' and said 'behaviour in lessons is of a good standard' - as a result 'high-quality learning takes place and pupils are able to demonstrate the progress they make during a lesson'.

Mr Patel is a former regional schools commissioner for the West Midlands and was previously head of Wood Green Academy in Wednesbury.

Mr Patel, who joined the school last month, said: "It is a pleasure to have returned to headship, particularly at an academy that serves a community I am passionate about supporting.

"There is so much potential here, as demonstrated by Ofsted's monitoring report, and I'm looking forward to building on the strong foundations at the academy.

"My absolute focus will be on ensuring every student that comes to George Salter fulfils their potential and enjoys high quality education so they can go on to flourish in later life."

In the damning May report, the academy was ranked inadequate by inspection chiefs in three areas, while school leaders faced severe criticism over both their leadership and management.

Leadership was labelled as 'weak at all levels', with the report demanding improvements 'as a matter of urgency'.

Three areas of effectiveness were rated as good with pupils praised for making 'good academic progress.'