Leaders at a Weymouth secondary school placed into special measures last year, are turning the school around, inspectors have said.

All Saints C of E School was subject to a second monitoring inspection after is was placed into special measures in May last year, and the latest report found the school is improving - especially in terms of pupil safety.

In a report, Ofsted inspector Kathy Maddocks said: "Having considered all the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures."

The initial report found the school "urgently" needed to address shortcomings in safeguarding and improvements in leadership, teaching and behaviour and welfare were also needed.

A monitoring inspection in September 2018 found leaders had not done enough to turn the school around.

However, the latest Ofsted report said the executive headteacher and acting headteacher had worked "determinedly" on the areas that were unsafe at the last visit and had ensured children at the school were safe.

It added the two leaders were the "driving force for improvement" but as they remained in temporary roles, the long-term capacity for leadership was still not secure.

The report said alternative provision at the school had been "rigorously checked" and the special educational needs coordinator had removed pupils from illegal settings.

Inspectors found behaviour at the school had also improved.

The report said: "The school remains a calm and orderly setting with pupils behaving well in their learning times.

"Pupils arrive punctually to lessons and are ready to learn. In most lessons, there is no need for behaviour management as pupils conform to the expectations of their conduct. Inspectors saw no low-level disruption."

However, attendance and persistent absence of a large group of pupils is still not improving at the school and only Year 7 attendance was in line with national averages

Inspectors said teaching at the school was improving, but to a lesser degree due to the focus on safeguarding.

However, the report said the acting headteacher had engaged with pupils to determine what aspects of teaching and learning were most effective for them.

It added pupils had expressed appreciation about this engagement and many spoke of their "increased desire to learn".

The report also found, too many teachers’ expectations were still too low but leaders were starting to monitor teaching more regularly however, inspectors said it was too soon to see any measurable impact.

It said some teachers’ low expectations stemmed from misconceptions about the prior attainment of pupils regarding literacy but the acting headteacher was working hard to re-educate staff who held these myths.

STAFF ARE WORKING HARD

Acting headteacher, Brian Boyes said he was "delighted" Ofsted had recognised the work of school leaders.

"We have been focusing on safeguarding, particularly pupils in alternative provision. Ofsted recognised the hard work of our staff in this area," he said.

"All staff have been working on ensuring high expectations of behaviour across the school. This was a key area for us to tackle quickly to ensure that all pupils can access learning throughout the curriculum.

"We recognise that improving the quality of teaching and learning across the school now along with improving attendance. We are working to improve homework and feedback through regular professional development for teaching staff. We look forward to additional support from the local authority to help improve the attendance of those families hard to reach and we will continue to work with pupils and parents to ensure attendance is high profile."