A UNION leader today urged people not to blame the teachers at a failing school after it was put under special measures and told to improve.

Simon Jones, Blackburn with Darwen secretary for the National Union of Teachers, defended all the staff at Darwen Moorland High School. And he said the special measures forced upon the school in Holden Fold had no bearing on the hard work that went on behind the school gates.

The Office for Standards in Education blamed a crisis in teacher recruitment and staffing levels for the deterioration of school standards since it was last inspected in 1998. The report said the leadership had been "beleaguered and battered by a period of severe staffing difficulty" which had resulted in a battle to ensure lessons were covered by teachers.

It said both experienced and inexperienced teachers lacked the skills and techniques to deal with bad behaviour - behaviour which destroyed learning in many lessons.

Mr Jones said: "The experience at Darwen Moorland must be disheartening for teachers in every way and I would give my full backing to the head for all the work he has done. There are teachers there who will be really good at their jobs and there have been ongoing staffing issues which make life in school very difficult indeed.

"There is very little support for teachers who are trying to control very disruptive children especially when there is so much pressure on schools to reduce the number of exclusions they handle. Ofsted make one snap judgement about life in school which causes more harm than good. The stress and problems the inspectors cause is far worse than the school itself."

Head teacher Richard Bridges said: "We have had so many problems with staffing and the Ofsted inspectors have reported what we have been through. We can announce two new appointments in the maths department who want to join our team and will have access to more resources from the government to help.

"Everyone is keen to move forward and we won't be bowed down by this. No-one is being criticised for their effort."