STAFF and governors at an embattled Burnley ‘super school’ have been told that it has ‘serious weaknesses’ and teaching standards require improvement.

But Hameldon College headteacher Gill Broom insists they are already taking ‘decisive action’ in response to a list of nine major faults identified by the education watchdog Ofsted.

An inspection conducted near the end of October has placed the Coal Clough Lane school has rated Hameldon as ‘inadequate’ — the third time in six years failings have been uncovered there.

The school was placed in special measures in February 2007 and it was given a ‘notice to improve’ in July 2011.

Lead inspector Mark Patton’s verdict in 2013 is that student achievement is ‘inadequate’, as their maths skills are insufficiently developed and the most able students were not always being challenged.

He was also concerned about student behaviour and safety as student absence and exclusions were ‘too high’.

Mr Patton said: “Students’ achievement is inadequate because over time they do not make enough progress in mathematics. As a result, standards are not high enough in this key subject.”

Ms Broom is ‘disappointed’ with Ofsted’s findings, with the inspection team singling out some ‘outstanding’ teaching and acknowledging improving English results She said: “We’re already taking decisive action to tackle the issues identified by Ofsted, and the inspectors recognised this when they came to visit us.

“Their rating is a disappointment, of course, but it is a snapshot of the situation now – not how it will be in the near future.

“The governors and I are confident that we will improve the quality of the college's teaching, and indeed we're already seeing strong results.” The inspectors have said that the school needs to eliminate a ‘very small amount’ of inadequate teaching in maths and improve overall standards.

And staff have been asked to tackle truancy and unruly behaviour by drawing up more engaging lesson plans and working more closely with parents.

The school, formed in 2006 which opened with a reduced capacity of 750, now has around 340 students.