SCHOOL leaders have vowed to act on the concerns of the education watchdog after the latest monitoring visit.

Prospect School is ranked as 'Requiring Improvement' and inspectors have raised fears about the 'urgent' need to address attendance and exclusion issues.

The Tilehurst school was visited in the summer and a letter was sent to head teacher, Phil Davies, listing the areas which require action.

Inspectors felt senior leaders and governors were not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last inspection, in order for the school to become good.

The report reads: "[The school should] urgently address the decline in attendance and continue to reduce exclusions, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.

"Ensure improvement plans contain specific measurable targets, and governors are provided with clearer analyses of progress information, so that leaders at all levels can be held accountable for improvements in their subject areas.

"Increase teachers’ expectations so that the most able pupils are challenged to reach the highest standards across the curriculum.

"Ensure that teachers make better use of information on pupils’ progress when they plan work, so that lessons are suitably challenging to enable pupils to progress well and catch up any lost ground, particularly disadvantaged pupils."

The monitoring inspection was carried out because the school received two successive judgements of 'Requires Improvement' at previous visits.

In 2017, overall attendance was below the national average and that of disadvantaged pupils was particularly poor - in the bottom 10 per cent of all secondary schools.

Inspectors noted that there had been several challenges since the last visit, with a number of staffing changes at Prospect.

Mr Davies added: "Ofsted inspections provide the school with key areas to develop, as well as highlighting what the school does well.

"The governors, head teacher and all staff are fully committed to driving up standards and have put in place specific actions to address the areas of improvement identified within the letter."