Telford school is in spotlight for teaching initiative

But Ercall Wood Technology College in Wellington, which was rated as needing improvement by Ofsted last year, needs to work more closely with outside organisations with which it places those pupils for alternative education, inspectors have found.

Ercall Wood was visited by Ofsted as part of a national study into how alternative placements are used to keep seriously disenchanted pupils in education.

Inspector Judith Matharu, in a letter to headteacher Chay Davis, noted that the school has a "very small number" of students in placements with the EDS Seeds Centre and Landau.

She said: "It is apparent from your records that without such provision, the young people concerned are at serious risk of permanent exclusion from school. There is a clear willingness to secure another placement if one fails and a genuine reluctance to give up on students.

"A sensible emphasis is maintained on continuing with literacy and numeracy learning at an appropriate level, recognising the importance of these qualifications post-16. Despite this, your records indicate that in recent years, students attending alternative provision have made less than expected progress in both English and mathematics at GCSE.

"There is evidence to support your view that the social and personal difficulties faced by the young people concerned proved insurmountable barriers for the school to overcome."

The inspector also highlighted areas for the school to improve its use of alternative provision, including monitoring placements more closely.