Telford secondary school in special measures

The school on Severn Drive has more than 1,100 pupils

A secondary school in Shropshire has been put in to special measures by education watchdog Ofsted.

Charlton School in Dothill, Telford, was rated as inadequate, after a 2011 inspection described it as good.

Standards of achievement had fallen and leaders had failed "to take sufficiently urgent action to stem the decline", Ofsted said.

The school said the report stated it was "safe" and students' moral development was good.

Quality of teaching, achievement of pupils, leadership and management were all rated as inadequate, however, with behaviour and the safety of pupils described as requiring improvement.

'Cramped buildings'

Ofsted said in "too many lessons, the work set does not challenge and interest students so they become distracted, chat and do not work hard enough".

But students were also "polite, considerate and courteous" as they moved around the "cramped school buildings", the watchdog said.

The school, which has more than 1,100 pupils aged 11 to 16, is due to relocate to a new, purpose-built site in 2016.

Four other secondary schools in Telford were placed in special measures in April.

In a statement, Charlton School said it "continues to be consistently oversubscribed" and that the community "value the contribution it makes to the lives of all learners".

The school's governors said they were "committed to addressing the issues identified" by inspectors and believed that some measures already introduced to support pupils would reveal improvements when results are published in August.