A SECONDARY school has said there are “a lot of positives” to take from its recent Ofsted inspection, despite being rated requires improvement.

Beckfoot Oakbank, in Ingrow, Keighley, was taken over by the Beckfoot Trust in 2016, when it has previously been rated requires improvement, indicating little progress in the past three years.

But the Trust said he school is moving forward and improving.

In the report, Ofsted said: “Leaders have worked hard to improve the quality of teaching in the school.

“However, it is still inconsistent and requires further improvement. Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not consistently high.

“Achievement in English, mathematics and science requires improvement. The quality of pupils’ work in these subjects is variable. Their written work is not of a consistently good standard and in many cases remains unchallenged.

“Pupils who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and disabilities do not make the progress they are capable of

“Over time, leaders have taken a wide range of actions to make improvements. However, they have been slow to prioritise effectively and take the actions which would ensure pupils’ progress improves quickly enough.

“A minority of pupils are disruptive to learning through their behaviour in lessons and on the corridors.

“Although leaders have implemented a system for managing behaviour, it is not applied consistently or effectively across all areas of the school.

“Attendance remains below average. Too many pupils are regularly absent.”

Some strengths were noted by Ofsted, include a clear vision of what needs to improve, led by a new headteacher who has begun making improvements, and an improved curriculum to better meet students’ needs.

It noted the school’s sixth form is a strong performing part of the school, being rated Good in the report, and students make strong progress, thanks to high quality teaching, advice and guidance, and better attendance.

Ofsted also found students feel safe at school and are well cared for by staff.

Leadership was also praised for putting good systems in place, but inspectors say it was too early to judge the impact of the new systems at the time of the inspection.

David Horn, chief executive of the Beckfoot Trust, said: “The requires improvement judgement aligns to the school’s self-evaluation.

“The progress made over the last 18 months has been significant and that is reflected in the report.

“The action points identified by Ofsted are in our view the correct ones. The school is heading in the right direction with strong leadership in place.”