Borehamwood primary schools Meryfield and St Teresa's JMI are to receive support from county council trouble-shooters, following concerns over their OFSTED inspections.

Meryfield and St Teresa's are the only schools in the Borehamwood area which will be visited, from the beginning of next year, by the Intervention Team, set up by the council to support schools with weaknesses.

The team including six primary and secondary school development advisers will visit the schools weekly or fortnightly, to provide help, including coaching for inexperienced and overseas teachers and advice on the curriculum.

Inspections of both schools, earlier this year, identified "serious weaknesses". Meryfield, in Theobald Street, had teaching weaknesses and below-average pupil performances in reading, writing and maths. The school's newly-appointed headteacher, Margaret Kirby, attributed the problem to staff recruitment problems. St Teresa's, in Brook Road, also had weaknesses in teaching and some subjects, including science and geography. It too had suffered staffing problems.

Principal school development adviser Gill Jones, said: "Problems with the recruitment and retention of key staff members, or leadership difficulties, can have a serious impact on a school's ability to provide a good standard of education.

"These schools will receive intensive support and guidance at an early stage. In this way, school staff can quickly turn around tough situations."

Councillor Robert Gordon, executive member for schools, said: "For a minority of parents and pupils, their school is not meeting the standards they expect and deserve. The Intervention Team will help to deliver real improvements."

October 1, 2002 17:00