A SCHOOL told it “requires improvement” by Ofsted has already made progress, its headteacher has said.

Stowupland High School was visited by the education watchdog last month and the report, just published online, said changes must be made.

Under Ofsted’s new framework the “requires improvement” grade has replaced the old “satisfactory” rating, which the school was given at its previous inspection in February 2011.

Ofsted did hand the school some positive feedback, including praise for headteacher Karen Grimes and her team’s work to raise students’ achievement, and rated the behaviour and safety of pupils as “good”.

In his report, lead inspector Huw Bishop said too few children were making good enough progress and the number of pupils securing higher levels in exams was too low.

He said: “Teaching has improved, but the expectations of teachers are not consistently high enough to promote sustained, good progress in all subjects.

“Although the attitudes to learning of the majority of students are very positive, the pace of learning sometimes slackens when teaching is not good enough to interest and motivate middle ability students. Achievement is not yet good. Although it is now improving, progress in mathematics is still not as good as it is in English.”

Mrs Grimes said the report confirmed the school’s own evaluation and the action points, which were agreed with the school, reflected the priorities in its improvement plan.

She said: “We have already made good progress in a number of areas and will continue to work hard in order that we build on the many successes highlighted in the report, including strong achievement in English and examples of good and outstanding teaching.”