A SPECIAL school is taking “effective” action in re-energising staff and strengthening leadership after it was told to improve.

John Watson School in Littleworth Road, Wheatley, was visited by Ofsted in November 2013 and was given the level three rating of “requires improvement”, the second worst.

In a monitoring visit at the end of April, inspector Janet Pearce told the school, which has about 90 pupils, it was taking action to tackle the areas needing improvement.

Pupils attending the school all have a statement of special educational needs.

They have a range of needs including moderate learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorders and speech, language and communication needs.

A minority of students have profound and multiple learning difficulties.

Mrs Pearce said the school had “quickly identified that there were valuable strengths in the existing team of leaders and teachers”.

She added that giving them defined roles and responsibility had “renewed their commitment and unlocked their sense of purpose”.

She added: “Everybody I spoke to during the monitoring inspection commented on the intense focus on improvement and the ‘dramatic’ change. The action plan to improve the school is detailed and shows considerable reflection. However, the plan indicates how evidence will be used to show that improvements have been made, but does not demonstrate explicitly how governors will monitor improvements and hold school leaders to account.”

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