BRADFORD’S biggest school is continuing to improve after being placed in special measures last year, according to inspectors.

Ofsted visited Grange Technology College last month to check on the progress of the school’s efforts to turn things around after the highly critical inspection in June, where Grange was judged “inadequate.”

School inspector Susan Hayter has now written to head teacher Alison Mander, who took over shortly after it was placed in special measures, to say she felt the school was on the right track.

Miss Mander, the deputy head teacher at Guiseley School, was brought in to replace Grange’s then head Nicholas Bell, who resigned after the report, and the school embarked on an ambitious improvement plan.

With 1,800 pupils, Grange is the biggest school in the Bradford district.

The letter says while there is not a full complement of permanent staff at the school, an issue raised in the inspection, there has been a successful re-organisation of the school’s leadership team “without causing major disruption” and important posts, such as in the maths department, have been filled.

The letter, which was yesterday put on the school’s website, says: “Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

“The head teacher, effectively supported by the executive head teacher, is the engine behind the drive for improvement in this school.

“The head teacher’s authoritative presence, combined with her strong commitment to the progress and welfare of each pupil, permeates the school. Staff and pupils are unanimous in their respect for the positive changes being implemented.

“Trustees have made progress in improving the use of pupil premium funding.

“Pockets of highly effective teaching in different subjects and different year groups were evident.

“Leaders have recently ramped up their expectations for pupils’ behaviour.”

Improvement work in the school has included testing pupils phonics and reading skills to better know their education levels and requiring teachers to use annotated seating plans, including pupils’ prior attainment and most recent assessment information, for all lessons.

Miss Mander said: “The letter says there are pockets of highly effective teaching, which shows we are breaking the back of the poorer quality teaching recognised in the first report.

“The extra training we are providing to staff is having an impact that can be seen in the classroom.”

She said that while some staff were still temporary, the school was now hiring more high quality contract staff, and parents were kept up-to-date on how many staff were in temporary posts.

A similar progress letter from Ofsted to the school late last year had also praised progress, and Miss Mander said: “To get two successful monitoring visits is a testament to the school improvement plan. Having gone through this the second time we’ve taken on what they have told us and what they say our priorities should be.”

It is expected that Ofsted will visit the school again before the end of the academic year.