An Oldham secondary school has been downgraded by education watchdog Ofsted following a new inspection.
Newman RC College, which has 1,516 pupils, was previously rated ‘good’, but has now been told it ‘requires improvement’ in all areas.
Leadership at the Chadderton school was praised for having high expectations of pupil behaviour and high ambitions for pupils, but some teachers were criticised for not applying behaviour management strategies well enough.
Headteacher Glyn Potts was awarded an MBE last year for his services to education and the Army Cadet Force.
Last year, Mr Potts was outwardly critical of the Council and school building owners with the school suffering from leaks for 10 years.
Low-level disruption and lateness to lessons were both said to interrupt learning.
Teachers were criticised for not consistently following new approaches to the school’s system to tackle low-level disruption.
Pupils told the Ofsted inspection team, made up of Amina Modan, Stephen Ruddy, and David Roberts, that incidences of derogatory language and homophobic comments are not resolved consistently well.
Inspectors visited the school on May 17 and May 18, with the report published on July 6.
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Teachers in some subjects were said to have ‘strong subject knowledge’, meaning pupils ‘understand the curriculum well’, but inspectors found teaching to be inconsistent – with some teachers having ‘variable’ delivery in subjects.
Ofsted inspectors criticised the school’s curriculum as not ‘suitably broad and ambitious’, leading to an unevenness in pupils’ achievement across different subjects.
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While Ofsted inspectors praised leaders for helping pupils to understand their career options, leaders were criticised for not ensuring ‘that pupils understand what it means to be a British citizen’.
According to paragraph 293 of the Ofsted school inspection handbook, pupils should understand 'fundamental British values' of democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law, and mutual respect and tolerance.
Ultimately, pupils were said to be less prepared than they could be for ‘life in modern society’.
Newman College said headteacher Glyn Potts was unavailable to comment.
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