A CANVEY school has been told it requires improvement by Ofsted in its first inspection since becoming an academy.

Castle View School, on Foksville Road, was rated as needing improvement in its quality of teaching, personal development and outcomes for pupils.

However, the school, which became an academy in 2014, was rated as good in terms of effectiveness of leadership.

The secondary school was inspected over two days on December 12 and 13 with the report published on Friday.

The school came under criticism for the inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and for the poor attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs.

The report said: “The quality of teaching is inconsistent between subjects and year groups. Work is not always challenging for different groups of pupils.

Attendance, mainly of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is well below the national average.

“The number of pupils that are persistently absent from school remains too high.

“Not all teachers make good use of time to ensure that pupils make good progress from their starting points.

“Some parents are unhappy with the quality of the school’s communication, particularly when they have concerns.

“Pupils do not receive regular homework across subjects to strengthen their learning in school.”

Although coming under criticism, the school, which caters for 830 pupils across the five year groups, was praised after the governing body took action in September 2016 to appoint a new headteacher, making the school “well placed to improve further in the future”.

The report also stated that pupils feel safe in school and that bullying is rare, adding that personal development of pupils is good, with the school promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

Headteacher Steve Durkin said: “The feedback received has been invaluable in order for us to recognise the strengths of our school and the opportunities to improve the outcomes and life chances for all students of Castle View School.”