A BRADFORD school, which caters for children from age two to 19, has been rated as 'requires improvement' in its latest Ofsted inspection.

Bradford Academy, one of a small number of all-through schools in the district, had previously been assessed as 'good' overall.

Inspectors from the education watchdog published their findings this week following a two-day inspection visit in January.

While they handed the school an overall rating of 'requires improvement' this time, both the early years and sixth form provisions were judged as “good” individually.

They were critical of the educational experiences of pupils at Bradford Academy, describing them as “mixed” and that there are “inconsistencies in the quality of education”.

The report said: “In some subjects, the curriculum is not ambitious enough. It is not sequenced in a way that helps pupils to develop their knowledge over time.”

The Church of England designated academy has responded by highlighting the difficulties of assessing an all through school.

In a letter to parents, which has been provided to the Telegraph & Argus by the school, executive principal Mel Saville and chair of governors Adrian Farley, state: “Inspecting an all through school is very challenging as any judgements made must be ‘best fit’ across both the primary and secondary phases. This means that particular areas of strength in either phase may not be fully reflected in the report.

“Governors are working with school leaders to ensure that all action points from the inspection are acted upon in a robust and timely manner.”

The West Bowling school, which has around 1,800 pupils, was praised by Ofsted, saying that pupils feel safe in school and know who to speak to if something is worrying them.

They also said the school plays an important role in the community and leaders know the pupils well, adding: “Staff work tirelessly to support the most vulnerable pupils.”

However, there was criticism of some poor behaviour at secondary age, and how that is dealt with.

The report adds: “Some pupils told inspectors that low-level disruption interrupts their learning and that fights between pupils in the secondary phase happen too frequently.

“Pupils say that when incidents of bullying occur, some instances are dealt with more effectively than others.”

The school added: “Whilst we do not shy away from the feedback regarding improvements to be made, we also believe that Bradford Academy is a true community school that works to nurture our learners, and this will continue to be the case moving forward.”

The Ofsted report highlighted five areas where the school needs to do to improve, which are as follows:

  • Some subjects, where the curriculum is not ambitious enough or well planned, should be reviewed;
  • Ensuring that teaching is effective and the most appropriate methods to help pupils follow the curriculum are used.
  • The root cause of low-level poor behaviour should be identified and strategies implemented consistently;
  • Leaders should carry out a thorough analysis of information to identify school priorities.
  • Students in the sixth form resitting English and mathematics should receive targeted support.