Werneth School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 February 2026

Over the last 3 years, pupils have experienced a turbulent time at this school. Instabilities in staffing and leadership meant that, until recently, pupils did not benefit from the high-quality education that they deserve. During that time, some parents and carers rightly raised concerns over their children’s experiences at the school. More recently, things have changed for the better. Pupils’ conduct and attendance are improving. Lessons and corridors are calm. Most pupils behave well and act respectfully towards each other. They understand that the school’s high expectations have helped them to feel happier and safer at school than in the past. This is helping many pupils to enjoy their learning more and more, profiting from a greater range of experiences. They increasingly feel like they belong. On the whole, pupils forge positive relationships with staff. When pupils report problems such as bullying or derogatory language, staff typically deal with these instances well. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have a renewed confidence in staff to help and support them sensitively. They are benefiting from the school’s work to prioritise inclusion. Even so, the impact of the support that pupils with SEND receive in lessons is still too variable. At times, barriers to learning are not reduced well enough. Some pupils with SEND do not attend school often enough. Improvements to the school’s curriculum mean that it is now well ordered and ambitious. However, pupils' learning across the curriculum is still uneven because of inconsistencies in how well it is taught. Leaders have put appropriate plans in place to help pupils to fill in any gaps in their learning. However, these plans have not had enough time to be fully successful. As such, pupils’ typical achievement in national examinations remains well below the national average. This limits their readiness for what comes next.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is taught consistently well across all subjects and year groups so that pupils learn and achieve well.
• Leaders should ensure that staff are fully equipped with the information and expertise they need to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Leaders should ensure that staff use assessment techniques effectively in order to identify and address gaps and misconceptions in pupils' knowledge.
• Leaders should sharpen their analysis of attendance strategies to ensure that the most effective approaches are used for groups of pupils with varying needs so that they attend regularly.
• Leaders should ensure that planned improvements to the delivery of the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum enable all pupils to be better prepared to take their place in modern society.
• The trust should ensure that the school receives the support it needs in order to continue the positive developments that have begun.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)