A SCHOOL for excluded children or those at danger of being excluded has been told to improve.

The Oswaldtwistle School, in Union Road, lost its “good” status after an inspection by Ofsted.

Following a visit, when she carried out observations and spoke to students and teachers, lead inspector Marian Thomas said the school “required improvement.”

She said: “Teaching requires improvement overall. Work in some students’ books shows slower progress because too much time is spent on going over work that students already know.

“The good levels of teaching identified in the last inspection have not been maintained.”

Students’ targets were not challenging enough, progress in English and maths was not monitored as closely as it should be, teaching assistants sometimes “lack direction,” and the school’s marking policy is not always followed, the Ofsted report said.

Insp Thomas added: “Students’ achievement requires improvement overall because too many make too little progress in English and maths from their different starting points in both the main school and the alternative provision.”

Several of the school’s strengths were also identified in the report.

Students told the inspector that nobody at the school was bullied, while the inspection found the “vast majority” of students improved their behaviour once they settled into the school’s routine.

Insp Thomas said: “Students clearly feel safe and enjoy coming to school. This is reflected in the often dramatic improvement in their attendance to close to and sometimes above the national average.”

The report also showed students made “good and better” progress in English and maths, and the hiring of two senior leaders from local secondary schools boosted the strength and knowledge of the management committee.

Insp Thomas added: “As a result, they have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to advance the school and are playing a key role in bringing about improvement.”

About 75 students are currently on roll. Twenty per cent of them are students who cannot attend mainstream school due to medical or mental health issues.

Head teacher Mark Bocker said: “We sort of agreed with the report. The self-evaluation form that we had already completed in the summer term already identified what Ofsted identified themselves.

“We knew there was weakness in data management and we are appointing a manager to take that role on.

“Ofsted caught us early and the judgement I think is fair. We can’t argue with that.

“We want the very, very best we can achieve for our kids. I was gutted that the grade dropped but it’s in hand.”