A FORMER struggling secondary school has been praised by watchdog Ofsted, which said it is likely to show an improvement in GCSE results.
Denefield School, Tilehurst, was placed in special measures in December 2008 after poor exam results and was visited by chief inspector Mary Massey and two other inspectors earlier this month.
The inspectors observed 24 lessons and held interviews with headteacher, Glyn Whiteford, as well as school governors and teachers.
In a report Ms Massey graded the school as good and praised work done by Mr Whiteford and his team who she said had worked hard to raise the standard of teaching in the school.
She said: “The school’s predictions for the current Year 11 indicate that GCSE results are likely to be slightly above the national average this summer and thus continue a steady upward trend over time.
“The anticipated improvement in science attainment is particularly marked. There was a legacy of underachievement from previous years, and students in Year 11 who were not making enough progress were accurately identified early in the year. Interventions were put in place to ensure that these students met their targets through, for example, extra classes and one-to-one tuition.”
The report also noted that pupils were calm, friendly and articulate and said that pupils work well in groups however it did note that teachers still had to deal with challenging behaviour.
It said: “Diversity is valued and there is an atmosphere of tolerance of difference. Behaviour across the school is good, and exclusions continue to fall.
“Although there are some instances of challenging behaviour this is generally managed well, and only manifests itself when teaching is less stimulating and activities are poorly matched to students’ needs.”
Mr Whiteford was delighted with the report and said: "I am particularly pleased by the recognition that Denefield is moving into a new phase of its development, where good quality teaching and learning and robust systems for assessing and monitoring student progress are in place.
"This is an exciting time for students to be joining Denefield. We look forward to substantial improvement in our examination results this summer and a raft of new building works that will help to transform our facilities for students, staff and the local community."
West Berkshire Council’s executive member for education, Barbara Alexander (Con, Compton), said the report was very encouraging and proof it was making progress.
She added: “They are well prepared for the upcoming full 'Section 5' Ofsted inspection next term and I am sure that everybody working at and supporting the school have high hopes that they may be taken out of special measures in recognition of the continuous improvements they are making."