A HEREFORD secondary school which was told it requires improvement by inspectors has been getting better, inspectors have said.

The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School had Ofsted inspections with the judgement it needed to improve.

But since the last full inspection in May 2019, the school, in Hampton Dene Road, has improved.

After a monitoring visit in March 2021, Ofsted inspectors said leaders and those responsible for governance were taking "effective action to provide education in the current circumstances" of the coronavirus pandemic.

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They said leaders have made sure all aspects of the national curriculum were covered, there was a renewed focus of literacy, reading and numeracy, and pupils who needed extra support had the help they needed.

Hereford Times: The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School, in Hampton Dene Road, is getting better The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School, in Hampton Dene Road, is getting better

Headteacher Martin Henton said he was proud of the school after the inspection.

He said he was "really pleased to see so many positive comments", which showed the school has been achieving high standards under challenging circumstances.

"Since the last Ofsted inspection in 2019, there had been a huge amount of positive change at Bishop's and that the experience of the pandemic had brought the school community closer together with the aim of providing the best learning experience possible for all of our students," Mr Henton said.

Hereford Times: Headteacher Martin Henton. Picture: David J Prior Headteacher Martin Henton. Picture: David J Prior

"The inspection report was really encouraging to read in that, this aim was reflected in comments from both our students and parents."

A spokesperson for the school said the last twelve months had placed a huge amount of pressure on schools to adapt teaching and learning methodologies to be all online with very little notice.

"We have all been learners in using new ways of delivering the curriculum so that is it accessible and engaging," they said.

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The inspection report recognised the hard work that has been carried out by the school to successfully achieve this in staff training, new posts to support students and leaders developing and refining remote education provision.

The spokesperson added that governors were an integral part of the improvement and should be recognised for their valuable contribution.

The inspectors reported governors were committed to the school and they provided leaders with an appropriate balance of support and challenge.

The full inspection in 2019 said teaching, leadership and pupils' outcome all needed improvement.

The inspectors said most-able students are not making good enough progress as they are not challenged enough in their learning, and the progress of disadvantaged pupils had only slightly improved since the last visit in 2018, with the additional funding for these pupils needing to be used more effectively.