A HIGHBRIDGE school criticised by Ofsted for its students' poor GCSE results has failed to make sufficient progress six months on, the watchdog says.

Ofsted inspectors found that The King Alfred School was 'inadequate' and placed it in 'special measures' following a visit in April. But after returning for a monitoring visit last month, inspectors concluded that effective progress has not been made.

In the latest report, inspector Simon Rowe said: "Senior leaders, middle leaders and governors have done too little to improve the quality of teaching across the school.

"Seven months after the school was placed into special measures, the quality of teaching remains too inconsistent and too much is of a poor quality.

"Too much teaching fails to promote good progress for pupils. Teachers’ expectations of what pupils are able to achieve are too low.

"Pupils continue to underachieve across the school. The outcomes Year 11 pupils achieved in the GCSE examinations in 2017 show that they made very poor progress across a wide range of subjects including English and mathematics."

Mr Rowe did however acknowledge progress in some areas and praised headteacher Denise Hurr for her strong understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.

"The school development plan she has written is a comprehensive document that sets out clearly the actions to be taken and the intended impact," the report said.

"Pupils conduct in lessons and around the school site has improved significantly since the previous inspection.

"Pupils have a well-developed understanding of how to stay safe particularly when using the internet.

"Some teachers are very strong practitioners, humanities and post-16 subjects are taught very well."

A school spokesman said they are pleased inspectors saw improvement but acknowledged there is a lot of work to do to get the school out of special measures.

"It was very pleasing to see the inspection team recognised that behaviour and conduct at The King Alfred School has improved significantly since April," the spokesman said.

"Inspectors now note that pupils work well on their own and with their peers, safeguarding is strong and pupils are safe."

The school said staff are now 'very clear' about the quality of teaching expected of them and said all students who are not making sufficient progress are now a 'high priority'.