WYEDEAN is failing and requires special measures, its first inspection as an academy school found.

Ofsted inspectors rated achievements of pupils and quality of teaching as inadequate and said too many students at the larger-than-average school do not make enough progress, especially in English and those who had previously achieved highly do not do as well as they should.

Students lose attention and become passive because activities in some lessons do too little to motivate their interest, it found. It branded the weakest teaching “slow and uninteresting.”

But headteacher Clive Pemberton urged parents not to panic: “We know we need to make progress and this is going to be monitored very closely.”

The inspection found teaching is not strong enough across the school to ensure students make up lost ground. “Teachers often expect too little of their students; marking and their use of questions are not always good enough.”

There was not a clear and simple system to check students’ progress used and understood by all.

Mr Pemberton, headteacher since 2006, said while the school was surprised by the special measures decision, he understood it, as its GCSE results were below expectations, especially in English and Maths: “We are already moving to act in these issues. What we have to focus on for the current generation is that we put things in place to make accelerated progress.”

The inspection report had positive comments for the cultural development of pupils, their behaviour and the governing body’s high ambitions.

Wyedean School and Sixth Form became an academy in September 2011. When inspected by Ofsted in May 2010, it was judged to be good.

lComment-page 14

Cllr Armand Watts said: “This news affects the whole of the town as a fair population of children migrate over the border to go to school. My belief is Chepstow deserves more than this. There’s an expectation because of the demographics of where we live the standard of education would be higher.”