A HEAD teacher will keep his pupils back a year if they don't make the grade in core subjects – after Ofsted said pupils need to make more progress.
Oasis Academy Immingham has been judged as "requires improvement" by Ofsted inspectors – short of "good" but above "inadequate" – after its full inspection in February.
Despite the fact that the number of students getting five A*-C GCSEs including English and maths has risen by 20 per cent over three years, principal Kevin Rowlands thinks levels of progress have let the school down.
That is why he is writing to parents this week to tell them that intervention schemes will be introduced for pupils not making enough progress in English and maths – which could lead to them being held back a year.
Mr Rowlands said: "We will be providing pupils who need it with extra support, but if they aren't where they need to be in core subjects, we have to ask if progressing them to the next year is the right decision."
The report said the school was not good because:
Progress has improved but not enough.
Able pupils have under-performed.
Quality of teaching is variable.
However, it praised:
Leadership and governance.
Support for children with complex needs.
Progress being made in teaching.
Although Mr Rowlands admitted to being "disappointed" by the rating, he said he would not "make excuses" and has recently spoken out in support of Ofsted after high-profile criticism.
Mr Rowlands had a letter printed in The Times, in which he wrote after the National Union Of Teachers had a vote of no confidence in chief Ofsted Inspector Michael Wilshaw at the end of March.
He said: "People have criticised Ofsted for raising the bar, but I think it is absolutely right that we should be trying to improve standards – Ofsted and teachers have the same job in that sense.
"I'm confident we would have been a 'good' school under the old framework, but I have no complaints that I now have something higher to aspire to.
"No one can argue that our school is not better than when it was last inspected and our results have improved hugely but do we still need to improve? Yes."
Mr Rowlands also spoke out against teacher strikes, saying: "Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I understand teachers' concerns about performance-related pay, pensions and working hours.
"However, we are in a great profession serving young people which is rewarding and enjoyable, which the majority of people love – but a negative minority have dominated the headlines.
"We teach them about democracy and negotiation and I don't think striking is the answer to every complaint we might have."
