Head teacher at Huntingdon school says additional hours have been put in to tackle issues highlighted in Ofsted report

In a statement issued to parents, Christopher Bennet said that a “lack of recording-keeping” was the reason behind the rating from Ofsted and went on to say that only a “small minority of pupils” were affected.

Mr Bennet said that staff had put in additional hours over the summer to ensure that records had been updated and procedures checked.

Ofsted visited the school in July and rated it as inadequate.

Mr Bennet said: “The recent Ofsted report highlights a number of significant improvements that have been made to the quality of teaching, pupils’ behaviour and the leadership of the school. However, despite these improvements the school was judged to be ‘inadequate’ overall due solely to a lack of record keeping regarding our safeguarding practices for a small minority of pupils.

“I can reassure parents and the community that there is no evidence of any students being put at risk, but our record keeping did not satisfy the lead inspector.

“As a result, staff have put in many hours of additional work over the summer holiday period to update records and check procedures.”

Despite the criticism, Ofsted inspectors also acknowledged that there had been “significant improvements” in the quality of teaching and pupils’ behaviour at the school, and singled out the school’s sixth form for praise.

Lead inspector, John Mitcheson said in his report: “Regular scrutiny of lessons and feedback to staff about the quality of teaching and learning have led to significant improvements.

“Some staff who were unable to improve their effectiveness have left the school. Those who have remained have received regular training and support to increase their effectiveness.”

But the inspector said the school’s governors had not acted quickly enough to address the shortfall in safeguarding practices for pupils, and added that the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers was not narrowing quickly enough.