A FAILING Rossendale school has been told that it’s not taking “effective action” towards the removal of special measures.

Fearns Community Sports College in Stacksteads was given Ofsted’s lowest possible grading of ‘inadequate’ when it was assessed in April 2014.

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The school has however been praised in a number of follow-up inspections since.

In a new report following a ‘section eight’ inspection earlier this month, Ofsted said that while senior leaders and governors have taken “many difficult decisions” the school’s improvement journey has ‘stalled’ and insufficient progress has been made towards the removal of special measures.

The education watchdog noted that the GCSE results for 2015 were “significantly lower” than the leaders had predicted with only 27 per cent of pupils attaining five or more GCSE grades including English and maths between A* to C.

Inspector Shirley Gornall said: “Results in mathematics were particularly weak and too many pupils made poor progress from their relative starting points.

“Attainment rose in English; however the proportion of pupils making expected progress from their starting points was still much lower than that found nationally.

“Higher-attaining pupils made more progress and achieved better results than those in previous years in English; however, the school’s overall progress measure at this level remained below the national figure.

“The gap in achievement between disadvantaged pupils in the school and all pupils nationally widened.

“Teachers sometimes make it too easy for pupils to avoid work.

“Overall, behaviour has deteriorated since the last monitoring inspection.

“Significant numbers of pupils are excluded to the school’s inclusion unit during the school day.”

The number of pupils at the school has also reduced “dramatically” from 504 in April 2014 to 386, according to official figures.

However, aspects of teaching, behaviour and the school’s leadership and management were praised by the inspector.

Head teacher Helen Stead said: “The report clearly states that we know our strengths and weaknesses.

“Plans are in place to address the key concerns.”