A NEWLY-CREATED Suffolk academy has been praised for improving teaching and helping to speed up pupils’ progress.

Ofsted inspectors said Hadleigh High School – which was given academy status last July – was a “good” school that had made improvements since headteacher Caroline Gibson was appointed in 2010.

But they stopped short of handing the school their top grade – “outstanding” – because “inconsistencies in the quality of teaching mean that levels of challenge in lessons do not always match students’ individual needs.”

They concluded the school, which has a science specialism, was “good” in all areas including pupils’ achievement, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils, and leadership and management.

“We are delighted with the report,” said Mrs Gibson. “We want our pupils to have the very best educational opportunities enabling them to have the skills and attributes required to be highly successful, happy, confident and creative learners who will be able to cope with the opportunities and challenges which will face them as young adults.

“The Ofsted inspection has been a valuable means of testing how far we have travelled so far in our aim to provide an outstanding education for our young people.

“I am pleased that the inspectors have identified that we have a relentless focus on further improving our practice and that we expect the very best from and for our pupils as well as encouraging our pupils to develop the social skills which will enable them to be valued members of any team.”

Lead inspector Frank Knowles described in a letter to students how the school could improve further.

He said: “We have asked them to make sure that all the teaching you receive is good, especially getting the right level of challenge in activities and showing you in making how you can improve your work.

“And when they monitor the work of a year group or in a subject, we have also asked them to focus more on the quality of your work and how well it is marked, and make more use of the assessment data they have to see what sort of progress different groups of students are making.”

The inspection took place on May 21 and 22.