'RELENTLESS' work to boost attendance has paid off at an Oxford school, but Ofsted has urged bosses to bolster support for senior leaders.

St Gregory the Great Catholic School in Cricket Road has had its fifth check-up inspection, since being rated 'inadequate' and placed in special measures in March 2017.

The latest feedback for the 1,204-pupil all-through school is largely positive, but concerns remained in certain areas including consistency of teaching standards.

Ofsted's new report, published last week, said leaders are 'resilient and determined to work together'.

It added: "The primary headteacher knows her school well [and] leads with energy, autonomy and rigour. Her plans for improvement are ambitious and strategic

"In the secondary phase, leadership is now more secure and stable since the previous acting roles have been made permanent."

ALSO READ: Previous Ofsted report for St Greg's

Ofsted described leadership in the secondary phrase as 'inexperienced' however.

The report added: "The weaknesses in the secondary school leadership must now urgently be addressed by the Dominic Barberi Multi Academy Company [which runs the school] in order to continue and sustain improvements.

"The pace of improvement in the school is at risk of faltering because directors and members of the strategic improvement board have not ensured that senior leaders in the secondary phase have sufficient support and challenge to raise standards in the school."

Quality of teaching in the secondary phase was said to still be 'variable' despite some pockets of good practice.

The report added: "Dirty whiteboards make presentations hard to read for some pupils.

"Some staff make errors with spelling and punctuation."

Despite this, there were many positives and Ofsted concluded that the school is taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

Inspectors praised records of safeguarding concerns as 'exemplar', adding: "The designated safeguarding leads are pleased to be setting up a community initiative designed to help agencies predict the changing risks outside of school.

"This dynamic project is typical of these leaders’ attitudes, which are outward-looking and realistic about safeguarding risks in the local area.

"Leaders in the primary and secondary phases, including the sixth form, work relentlessly with families to reduce casual absence."

ALSO READ: Why was it rated inadequate in the first place?

Ofsted said the staff member who oversees behaviour and attendance leads with 'confident determination' and 'firm compassion.'

Though pupils were described as 'lively and sometimes boisterous' between lessons, the report added that staff help to 'cajole' them to lessons and they are gradually becoming more punctual.

Hannah Forder-Ball, head of primary provision, said of the report: "While being disappointed with the overall outcome, the primary team are pleased that the inspectors continue to recognise the strengths in this phase of the school.

"We are hugely proud of all the children that make up our school community and would like to take this opportunity to thank the families for their continued support.

"We continue to work collaboratively as part of the through school committed to the educational outcomes of all children.”

Sean Tucker, head of secondary at St Greg's, said: "The report highlights many positive features of the school and the excellent work that is being done by staff and key members of the leadership.

"Plans are already in place to address those areas where further development is needed, thereby ensuring that sustained improvements are made well into the future."