THE headteacher of Wallingford School has said a new report downgrading it from ‘good’ to ‘satisfactory’ should not disrupt efforts to turn the school into an academy.

Wyll Willis, who has been at the school since 2005, said work was already under way to improve teaching and learning.

And he said this year’s GCSE pupils were set to achieve the best ever results.

But he admitted last year’s results had not been good enough, and accepted criticism from the Government’s education watchdog Ofsted.

Inspectors said that although progress in lessons had improved, there had been underperformance in some subjects.

Inspector James McNeillie said: “Teaching is satisfactory overall throughout the school because most lessons do not have a sufficient focus on what students should be learning.

“Linked to this, there is inconsistency in how well assessment information is used when planning and during lessons. When this is the case, the needs of all students are not sufficiently well met.”

Inspectors said the school was caring, and the headteacher was leading a drive for improvement and high expectations.

Although work had already taken place to boost teaching and learning, the results could not yet be seen, Mr McNeillie said.

Last year, 58 per cent of pupils got five A* to C grades at GCSE, including English and maths – up one percentage point from 2009. A-Level results fell by 10 percentage points, with 46 per cent of students achieving three A* to B grades.

But Mr Willis said the school had fallen in the league tables because he refused to enter pupils into qualifications, including BTECs, which he did not think were valuable.

He said: “The results did drop, but we are focused on all the right things to put it right.

“I accept everything in the report, including the fact we are getting it right now.

“When pupils are not getting the results that you know they could get, it hurts. That hurt lasts for 12 months and not just when Ofsted visit.

We have been honest that we have not focused enough on teaching and learning.”

He said new deputy head Gwyn Williams had led efforts to improve teaching.

The school’s aim is to be rated ‘good’ by its own assessment later this year, and ‘outstanding’ within two or three years.

Mr Willis said: “There has been a lot more focus on the progress of young people, and a lot more assessment and tracking of youngsters. We think our GCSEs are going to go up, and this year group will deliver the best results ever.”

The Department for Education is due to tell the school by July 18 whether it can become an academy in September. Guidelines say only schools “performing well” can convert.