A Borehamwood secondary school is still not taking "effective action" to become a 'good' rated school, according to an education watchdog.

Concerns continued to be raised by Ofsted inspectors following a visit to Hertswood Academy in Cowley Hill in July.

It was the second visit in five months after an Ofsted visit in February found safeguarding of pupils was "not effective" at the school.

Following July's visit, inspector Tracy Fielding found the safeguarding team at Hertswood had "acted rapidly" to address "urgent" issues raised earlier in the year, and deemed safeguarding to now be "effective".

However the report published on September 24 suggested the school needs to do more to improve its overall Ofsted rating of 'requires improvement', with concerns raised about the relationship between the school's leadership team and governors.

Inspector Fielding wrote: "Leaders and those responsible for governance are not taking effective action in order for the school to become a good school."

New governors have been appointed at the school but the report states "leaders and governors are not collectively taking effective action to address the other areas that require improvement in the school".

Inspector Fielding said leaders and governors have "differing and sometimes contradictory views about the effectiveness of the school provision", and leaders and governors are "not communicating as effectively and clearly with each other and with other stakeholders".

As a result, some staff, parents, and governors "do not have confidence in the actions being taken by leaders to address the weaknesses in the school".

The inspector noted the behaviour leader at the school is raising expectations about how pupils should behave, and leaders are now recording incidents of pupils' behaviour and "acting to address issues quickly".

Although the report, addressed to head teacher Peter Gillett, states behaviour is starting to improve and bullying incidents are beginning to reduce, name-calling is still an issue.

Hertswood Academy, which moved into a new £30 million state-of-the-art building in 2019, has 'required improvement' by Ofsted ever since a school inspection in September 2019.

This was after inspectors raised concerns about learning not being planned well enough, and teaching not meeting the needs of all pupils with special education needs.

It had previously received an 'inadequate' rating in September 2017 but was rated 'good' following an inspection in 2014.

To return to that 'good' rating, Ofsted has requested leaders and governors are "working collectively and collaboratively" with one another to share accurate, detailed, and timely information, so that they can identify issues and increase the rigour and pace of improvements in the school.

The school is also being asked to improve the accuracy, detail and quality of communication between governors, parents, and staff to ensure that stakeholders have "confidence" in the actions being taken by leaders to improve the school.

Hertswood Academy says it has already begun actioning these points through more "rigorous" monitoring and evaluation and an "increased focus" on effective collaboration between leaders and governors.