Report shows La Mare de Carteret teaching 'inadequate'

Mr Brown accepted that the school's performance was "not as it should be"

There is "widespread underachievement" at Guernsey's La Mare de Carteret High School, according to a new report.

The school's first validation report since 2006 was published earlier, revealing that "the quality of teaching and assessment is inadequate".

A team of six inspectors spent three days examining all aspects of the school between 13 and 15 March.

Alan Brown, the Education Department's deputy director, said the school had been "through some difficult times".

The department's minister, Deputy Carol Steere, resigned in January following a damning review of her department by Denis Mulkerrin.

The review was commissioned after it was revealed that only 11.5% of students at the school attained grade C or better in five or more GCSE subjects including English and maths.

The statistic had been withheld by the department but became clear following a direct question in the island's Parliament.

'Not acceptable'

The report noted that new measures had been put in place to improve pupils behaviour, teaching methods and management and that there are signs of recovery.

However, it said: "The very high proportion of staff who teach outside of their specialist subjects means that learning in many lessons is restricted by teachers' limited subject knowledge."

Another factor contributing "to the widespread underachievement" was "the unsatisfactory behaviour and attendance of a small but significant minority," it said.

Mr Brown said: "The team at La Mare de Carteret had already identified where the school required significant development."

"Last year's GCSE results were not acceptable and performance in other areas of the school was not as it should be."

As part of the validation process, the school will receive a follow-up visit within the next 12 months to judge progress against its action plan.