Inspectors deliver verdict on Dales school

6:43am Monday 6th November 2006

UPPER Wharfedale School's new headteacher is looking forward to making improvements following a recent Ofsted inspection.

Headteacher Ros Rees took up her position just three weeks before the educational inspectors visited the Threshfield school.

Looking after 293 pupils, aged from 11 to 16, it received satisfactory or good gradings in all areas of the report.

Overall the school was deemed "satisfactory".

Mrs Rees said: "It gives me a platform to build on. It has reinforced what I knew needed to be done. It is a good school with very solid foundations."

The report highlighted that there was "some variation" in the quality of teaching and some teaching was "complacent and at times unimaginative".

The report added: "The inspection confirms the school's view that it is providing a satisfactory education for its pupils.

"The brand new headteacher is well aware of what to do to turn the school into a good rather than a satisfactory one." The report continued: "Governors are knowledgeable and have considerable educational expertise.

"They are confident that the new headteacher and the deputy headteacher will provide the necessary rigour and vision to deliver and will sort out the few problems that exist, quickly and effectively."

The GCSE results were criticised after the latest figures indicated a "considerable decline".

However, the inspectors recognised that in such a small school, each pupil accounted for 1.7 per cent of the marks and the performance of just a few pupils could skew the whole picture one way or another.

During the inspection older pupils said they would like a wider range of courses and wanted to use more computers in lessons.

The school, which gained specialist sport status a year ago, was praised for its facilities.

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