A school has been told to improve its teaching in key science subjects chemistry, biology and physics by Ofsted inspectors.

The Albany School in Hornchurch was told overall that it “requires improvements”, but inspectors also highlighted the good work of the headteacher and staff in other core subjects.

The inspectors’ key findings stated: “Achievement is not as good as it should be.

“Teachers’ expectations are not high enough, particularly in setting challenging tasks for the most able students.”

The report said that students in Key Stage 3 did not always make good or rapid progress because target grades were not regularly reviewed.

It said teachers do not always provide opportunities to explore ideas in depth and to work in groups.

The report added: “Teachers’ marking is not consistent in quality and does not always tell students how to improve their work.”

Inspectors said students do not always join in lesson activities or behave well and attendance rates are not as good as they should be.

But the school was praised for having many strengths too, like new headteacher Adam Thorne giving the school a “strong direction” to the work of the school and that leaders and managers across the school want the very best for students.

“Senior leaders and governors are working well together to raise achievement and the quality of teaching, and to improve behaviour and attendance,” the report said.

It added that there was good and outstanding teaching in English, maths, home economics and PE, and the proportion of students gaining five A* to C grades at GCSE was slightly above average.

Ofsted has put in place suggestions to help the school improve including raising teachers’ expectations by planning tasks and creating challenging targets; reviewing students’ targets more regularly and raising the quality of leadership in science, art and drama.