A SECONDARY school and sixth form is not taking effective action to improve, a recent Ofsted inspection has stated.

English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College based in Catcote Road, Hartlepool was inspected by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) on September 23.

The monitoring inspection took place because the school had received two successive judgements of 'requires improvement' at its previous inspections, including this one.

The report stated: "The school should take further action to: accelerate the implementation of curriculum plans so that they improve the quality of education for all pupils. Ensure that the new governing body, and trust leaders, have a stronger focus on how well leaders are addressing the areas for improvement identified at the previous section 5 inspection.

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"Develop a more complete picture of how the curriculum and additional support are meeting the needs of disadvantaged pupils."

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

A new headteacher and deputy headteacher were appointed at the school in September.

The report went on to say: "In April 2020, the school joined the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust.

"This change occurred as leaders were responding to the pandemic.

"Covid-19 limited trust leaders’ ability to check the impact of improvement actions.

"Despite these factors, leaders and governors have not done enough to address areas for improvement.

"Some two years after the previous inspection, many improvement actions remain in the early stages of development."

However, the report addressed to the headteacher, Sara Crawshaw, said: "Since your appointment, you have accelerated the school’s improvement journey.

"Before formally taking up post, you worked with leaders to refine curriculum plans.

"With your new deputy headteacher, you are bringing greater consistency to curriculum planning.

"You are now working with your team to check how these plans are working in the classroom.

"This is creating a momentum for greater improvement."

English Martyrs Catholic School was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of print.

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