Inspector hails efforts of ‘special measures’ school

But while Mr Oppenheim acknowledged “strong “GCSE results, he said too much time was spent practising answers to questions at the expense of developing wider learning.

Pupils experienced a broad range of secular subjects and the option of vocational subjects such as child care helped them gain “a range of appropriate qualifications that meet their needs”. But biology was “still not taught in full.

“While this has little impact on overall achievement, it means that pupils are still not making the connections between physics, chemistry and biology as required by the national curriculum.”

Some progress had been made in the introduction of personal, social, health and economic education in the first year but the provision in other years lacked “ambition”.