A secondary school has been told it must improve after a ‘disappointing’ Ofsted inspection, but its headteacher says it is on the ‘right path’ for the future.

The education watchdog paid St Katherine’s School its first visit since it became an academy and said the Pill school’s ‘effectiveness’ has ‘declined’, while some pupils’ poor behaviour was noted.

The report says: “Until recently, the response of leaders, governors and the trust to this decline has not had enough impact. However, actions to improve the school are gathering momentum and leaders are demonstrating the capacity to improve the school further.”

Inspectors reported the school had already begun making improvements towards bettering its rating.

They said: “The quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement. Although leaders are tackling areas where teaching is weakest, teaching, assessment and the climate for learning are not consistently strong enough to speed up pupils’ progress in all subjects.

“There is greater clarity and direction in the school’s approach to improving teaching and learning.

“A revised framework for appraising the performance of teachers is providing robust support for improvement.”

The inspector found pupils are safe and there is a ‘well-structured programme’ for personal and social development. But, they said behaviour had to improve as it was affecting other students’ learning.

Headteacher Justin Humphreys says steps have been taken to raise standards, and said the inspection result is ‘disappointing’.

He said: “It is good to see inspectors recognise St Katherine’s is on the right path to improve standards and the actions being taken to further improve the outcomes for our young people.

“Our year-on-year improvement in overall outcomes at GCSE, A-level and vocational subjects over the past five years is testament to our students’ achievements and the dedication of all our staff.

“I am heartened the inspectors commented on several positive aspects of our school community.

“The school leadership team and staff absolutely recognise the need for particular groups to make greater progress and this is a priority for us.”