A Church of England secondary school, declared a flagship when it opened two years ago, has been designated as having 'serious weaknesses' by Ofsted.

Exclusions rocketed last year at Immanuel Church of England Community College in Thackley as leaders fought to maintain standards of behaviour. An average of nine pupils per week were being suspended.

In April, a massive 50 per cent of lessons were deemed "unsatisfactory" by school inspectors who highlighted "very serious concerns" and concluded that "urgent action was required".

A 20-strong team of Ofsted inspectors returned in Nov-ember to run the rule over the school.

They noticed marked improvements at the troubled school since the arrival of new head teacher Brenda Hadcroft in June, which has laid the foundations for a better future.

But it now faces regular inspections after being found to have 'serious weaknesses', one up from a failing school.

The report is sympathetic to the many problems the new school encountered.

"Few schools nationally can have faced such similarly challenging circumstances over the last two years, many stemming from factors outside its direct control," it says.

"Achievement, behaviour and the quality of teaching remain unsatisfactory, but are better than they were 12 months ago."

Between September 2001 and July 2002 there were 312 fixed term exclusions, an average of nine per week. It meant pupils missed a total of 1,800 school days.

Teaching overall is now rated unsatisfactory for Years 7 to 11 but good in the sixth form.

The school was established as one of two new Church of England secondary schools under the district wide reorganisation of 2000. Half the places were reserved for families opting for a Christian education but in fact only 15 per cent of places have been taken up on this basis.

Places were allocated to pupils from the former Eccleshill Upper, which was shut during the reorganisation. Unlike other high schools set up in 2000, Immanuel opened to all year groups from day one, instead of in phases.

The controversy surrounding the reorganisation and in particular the closure of middle schools and Eccleshill Upper infected the youngsters, Ofsted says. "Many who entered the college in 2000 and 2001 did so with damaged attitudes as well as serious weaknesses in skills," the report says.

The eye-catching new buildings have won design awards but inspectors said the design "was not conducive to the smooth running of a school of 1,000 pupils".

The report brings to 11 the number in the district with serious weaknesses. Ten more are in special measures - twice the national average.