TENBURY High School has been put into special measures.

The shock news follows a critical report after an inspection by education watchdogs Ofsted.

Adrian Price, who took over as head teacher last September, stressed that standards of achievement in some subjects remained high, but he admitted significant improvements had to be made.

In particular the report points out that students achievement over time in English and mathematics is inadequate in contrast to their achievement in science and some other subjects.

“The caring ethos of Tenbury High School is not about to change, but, by the end of the school year, there should have been a significant change in the quality of teaching and learning at the school,” said Mr Price.

However, the report also endorses changes at the school and the plan that the new headteacher and the school’s governing body have put in place.

"The new headteacher, the deputy headteacher and governing body have a clear understanding of the school’s weaknesses and have started to take action to deal with them,’ states the report.

Ofsted rules mean that inspections have to refer to results over time, for instance over a three to five year period, and they could not take into account the school’s 2013 GCSE results.

“During the period reviewed by Ofsted, the school’s maths and English results have been inconsistent and that wasn’t helped by the well-publicised national issue surrounding English in 2012.” said Adrian Price.

“On the other hand, the school’s science results have been, and still are, in the top five per cent in the country. Looking forward, our 2013 results mark a return to form in many subjects; results for A* to C in English, for instance, improved by 12 per cent from 2012 to 2013.”

John Garbutt, chair of governors at Tenbury High, said that there had been significant changes at the school.

“We have a new headteacher, several new teaching staff, a new school development plan and a new capacity to provide and analyse performance data,” said Mr Garbutt.

“However, Ofsted’s rules make these changes immaterial until they have had impact and the soonest that that will happen is with the 2014 GCSE results.”

He said that the teaching staff and governors have been aware of the problems for several months and steps are being taken to get the teaching back on track.

The school plans to do this by ensuring that lessons are planned and paced to challenge students more consistently.

A letter about the Ofsted report has been sent out to the parents of children at the school.