Full Ofsted report reveals why well-renowned Derbyshire school now ‘requires improvement’ - as pupils 'cause disruption' and teaching 'not as effective as it could be'

Netherthorpe School on Ralph Road, Staveley, was visited by the education watchdog last month.

Inspectors found some pupils causing disruption around the school site, teachers dealing with poor behaviour inconsistently and sometimes ineffectively and teaching not as effective as it could be.

The school, which has been providing education to Derbyshire pupils for 450 years, has previously been praised with Ofsted reports rating it as ‘good’ since 2002.

The report said the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development as well as leadership and management require improvement and some teachers do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve.

It states: “Trustees and those responsible for governance have been unable to support and challenge school leaders effectively enough to maintain high standards of behaviour and education. The education that pupils receive at this school is too variable. In some lessons, teachers’ expectations of pupils are not high enough. In other lessons, teaching is not as effective as it could be.

"Some teachers move too quickly onto the next phase of learning without checking if pupils understand the important components that underpin the next phase of learning. Some pupils give up easily and become distracted because they do not know how to undertake new learning due to gaps in their knowledge. These pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

“Leaders want all staff to build positive relationships with pupils. Leaders see this as a key to improving behaviour at the school. Staff are caring and nurturing. However, the behaviour at this school is not yet good. Some staff do not follow the protocols for managing pupils’ poor behaviour consistently enough. Pupils say that the behaviour of other pupils can interrupt their learning. Teachers deal with poor behaviour inconsistently and sometimes ineffectively.

"There are occasions when a minority of pupils cause disruption around the school site. Staff do not all have consistently high expectations of behaviour in classrooms. Staff do not always challenge low-level disruption and off-task behaviour quickly enough. Some pupils do not commit to their study as a result.”

However, the school’s sixth-form provision was rated as ‘good’ and the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The school was also praised for its ‘nurturing and caring’ staff with inspectors noting that there are ‘lots of opportunities for pupil leadership’. The inspection team also recognised the pride of pupils in representing their house and in the achievement badges worn.

Headteacher Helen McVicar said: “We are not a school that makes excuses, and we always make decisions that are best for the school community. The comments in the report give us something to work on and there were plenty of highlights in there too.”

She added: “The school recognises that there is always work to be done in education and we are already working hard on improving the provision for all pupils, including strategies to tackle low level behaviour disruptions.

The full report can be read here.