A SECONDARY school in Bradford has been branded "inadequate" after inspectors said a specialist board of governors brought in to improve standards have failed to tackle poor teaching and underachievement.

Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College was given a "requires improvement" rating by Ofsted at its last full inspection in 2013. After a follow up visit, inspectors said the governing body was not acting fast enough to improve the school. The entire body, including two sitting Bradford councillors, was removed and replaced with an Interim Executive Board appointed by Bradford Council.

Inspectors returned to the school this September, and in a report released yesterday downgraded it to inadequate, claiming its leadership, quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils were poor.

Principal Jen McIntosh has been absent from the school since September, and it is being run by an executive interim principal with help of Immanuel College.

The school is in the process of becoming an academy, run by the Tauheedul Academy Trust.

The Ofsted report said: ""Leaders and governors have not acted effectively to address inadequate teaching and underachievement at the college.

"The IEB has not developed a detailed understanding of the college’s strengths and weaknesses or how underperformance of teachers is tackled. This is because it has relied too much on information provided by leaders. This information was inaccurate and presented an unrealistic and overinflated view of the performance of the college.

"The IEB was not effective in its management of the principal’s performance. Since its formation, members of the IEB have not had enough focus on teaching and achievement."

However, it says the new interim principal has a "clear and ambitious vision to get the school back on track" and "pupils feel safe and happy at the college".

A spokesman at the Interim Executive Board said: "The Ofsted report recognises the positive impact of early intervention by interim school leaders. As governors we continue to work in partnership with the college, the local authority and colleagues from Immanuel College and the preferred academy sponsor, Tauheedul Academy Trust, to bring about rapid change and improvement for children at the college.”

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, the executive member for education, said: “We have already taken the decisive action required at Laisterdyke by putting in place strong school-to-school support.

"The Ofsted inspectors report early signs that the strong support from Immanuel College is having a positive effect. The organised transition to the proposed academy sponsor is now vital to make sure there is a unified approach to delivering the improvements everyone wants to see quickly.”

Councillor Debbie Davies, education spokesman for the Conservative group, said: "You would hope a group of governors put in place by the council would be prepared to challenge things a bit more.

"The school was already in the danger zone, so the IEB should have been there to look at new ways of working. This report doesn't leave you with a lot of faith for IEBs, it makes you question the whole process really."

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, the Liberal Democrats group leader, said: "We should treat IEBs like anyone else, if they are not up to the standard they need to go. There are other examples of where IEBs have worked, but in this case it obviously hasn't."