A HEREFORD secondary school has been criticised by Ofsted inspectors for its ineffective safeguarding and the number of students it excludes and suspends.

Inspectors judged Whitecross Hereford, in Three Elms Road, to be inadequate, the lowest of the four ratings Ofsted can give a school.

They said that while the quality of education and personal development was good, behaviour and attitudes required improvement and leadership and management was inadequate.

This left the school with an overall grade of inadequate, two lower than the previous rating of good in 2013.

Inspectors Claire Price and Heather Simpson said in their report of the February visit that pupils said they feel safe in the school.

But they said leaders have not made sure that the necessary checks have been made on all adults at the school.

Inspectors found no evidence that pupils had been adversely affected, but this lack of vigilance does put pupils at risk of potential harm.

Telling the school what it needs to improve, inspectors said arrangements for safer recruitment are not effective.

"This means that leaders have not assured themselves that all adults that attend the school site are suitable to work with children," they said.

"As a matter of urgency, leaders should put systems and processes in place so that all safeguarding requirements are met and ensure that these systems are properly maintained from then on."

Inspectors also said the numbers of suspensions and permanent exclusions are high, and leaders have not taken action to reduce them.

"This means that some pupils miss too much learning," they said in their report.

"Leaders should evaluate the effectiveness of their systems to manage and improve behaviour and amend them as needed in order to reduce the number of suspensions and exclusions in the school."

They also said that the governing body is not aware of all its statutory responsibilities. This means that they are unable to hold leaders to account.

The governing body should take the necessary steps to ensure that they understand their duties in relation to the trust and the school and act accordingly.

But inspectors did say staff have high expectations of pupils and most pupils live up to the school’s motto of ‘excellence for all, excellence from all’, and they do well.

Pupils say that bullying rarely happens and inspectors said staff intervene effectively if it does occur at the school, which has 949 students aged between 11 and 16.

Most pupils know and follow the behaviour policy, and they can also take part in a range of different sports and clubs.

The curriculum is said to be well-planned and well-sequenced, with teachers' subject knowledge good.

Inspectors said leaders take account of teacher workload, and staff are positive about the support they receive from them.

Leaders monitor some aspects of the school’s work well, but this is not consistent in all areas of the school’s work and so leaders do not always take the right steps to correct weaknesses in the school.

Members of the governing body are also said to be keen ambassadors for the school, but they are not aware of the detail contained within safeguarding statutory guidance.

Inspectors said they have not ensured that they have conducted appropriate safeguarding checks on all governors.

"This is a clear breach of their responsibilities," they said.