Some teachers at Mary Webb School failing to plan properly
Some teachers at a Shropshire secondary school are failing to plan for lessons or mark pupils' work adequately, a new report revealed today.
Government inspectors have encouraged governors at Mary Webb School and Science College, in Pontesbury, near Shrewsbury, to "eliminate inadequate teaching" after its overall quality fell in comparison to a previous Ofsted inspection in June 2010.
The school, which has 502 pupils, has been told it "requires improvement" and is no longer rated as a good school. The ranking is equivalent to the former term "satisfactory".
The Ofsted report concluded that "some teachers do not plan lessons or mark the students' work often or thoroughly enough and students are not allowed enough time to respond to teachers' comments about their work in their books and this is slowing down their progress".
It added: "Sometimes teachers fail to plan for the different needs of students, and expect all students to do the same work at the same pace. In a Year 9 humanities lesson, this approach led to many students in the class becoming distracted because the work they were expected to do was either too hard or too easy for them."
Inspectors assessed 31 lessons in May and said the progress made by pupils was not rapid enough. But they also praised the school and said it had made several recent appointments which were having a "positive impact" upon examination results.
Head Andrew Smith said: "We know the areas where we need to improve and inspectors reaffirmed that actions taken over the past 18 months have already improved students' progress and raised standards this academic year. We're confident we're on the right track to becoming a school judged to be good or outstanding in all areas."
Councillor Ann Hartley, Shropshire Council cabinet member for children's services, transformation and safeguarding, said: "We will continue to support the headteacher and governors as they strive to make the education provided at Mary Webb School the best it can be for pupils."
The Ofsted grading of three (requires improvement) replaces the "satisfactory" Ofsted judgement. Schools graded a three are judged to be demonstrating the capacity to secure their own improvement.
