A Slough secondary school has received a 'requires improvement' rating by Ofsted, four years after being given the same rating.

Beechwood School, located on Long Readings Lane in Slough was inspected on January 24 and 25 this year. The full report of the visit was published on March 17.

It comes at a time when Ofsted is being called to make changes in the way it evaluates schools following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, who was awaiting an 'inadequate' Ofsted report for Caversham Primary School in Reading.

Teaching unions have now urged Ofsted to pause all future inspections. 

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: “Ofsted should pause all its inspections and reflect upon the unmanageable and counter-productive stress they cause for school leaders and the impact on leaders.”

In the Ofsted report of Beechwood School, the education regulatory body scrutinised the behaviour of students.

The report reads: "There is a small minority of pupils who do not consistently follow the school’s expectations for behaviour around the school.

"There are also too many pupils persistently absent from school. Suspensions are too high, and not reducing quickly enough."

Within the classroom, it was found that children are 'not consistently helped to learn well and remember more'.

The report went on to add: "Leaders do not consistently evaluate the effect of the steps they are taking to improve the school.

"As a result, they cannot pinpoint which actions are having the impact they need them to or where their approach needs to change."

However, the school has been praised for their quick response to any cases of bullying.

Ofsted also noted a "well-planned ambitious curriculum", with activities increasingly tailored to students' needs.

There has also been an uptake in learning a foreign language since, which was noted as poor in the 2019 Ofsted report.

A unique 'personal development curriculum' has also been marked as a strength of the school - in which students learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy.

Ofsted noted that safeguarding within the school was effective and all staff had completed the required training.

Headteacher at Beechwood Secondary School, Anita Spires said: "The recent Ofsted visit has highlighted the many improvements that the school has made.

"Although we are disappointed with the overall outcome, the inspection team agreed with the areas of development that we had already set and are working towards achieving. 

"The Beechwood community continues to make us proud every day and it is due to this that we are making the great strides that we are."