Brynllywarch Hall School near Newtown has been placed in special measures by inspectors.
The special needs school at Kerry was judges to be unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement in care, support and guidance of pupils and in leadership and management.
The inspectors from Estyn, the Welsh Government’s inspectorate, said standards, wellbeing and attitudes to learning and teaching and learning experiences were adequate and need improvement.
In their summary, the report states: "Over time, many pupils at Brynllywarch Hall School make suitable progress in their learning and improve their attendance and behaviour. However, a minority of pupils in key stages 3 and 4 do not make enough progress in managing their behaviour, and do not engage well in their learning.
"Nearly all staff have very good working relationships with the pupils. They understand pupils’ emotional needs well and respond sensitively when pupils are finding things difficult.
"The school provides learning experiences that meet the needs of learners at key stage 2 and post-16 well. However, the curriculum does not incorporate a sufficiently co-ordinated approach to the development of pupils’ skills. There is a significant difference in the quality of teaching across the school. Overall, teaching is adequate and needs improvement."
It added: "The headteacher provides strong day-to-day operational leadership. However, the strategic role of the leadership team in improving pupils’ standards, the quality of teaching and the provision for pupil wellbeing is under developed."
Key recommendations set out by the inspectors report are:
Improve the quality of strategic leadership and procedures for school improvement planning
Improve the curriculum at key stages 3 and 4, to ensure that it matches more closely the needs, interests and aspirations of the pupils
Improve the quality of teaching
Improve pupil behaviour
Address the shortcomings in the management of health and safety procedures identified during the inspection
The report said: "In accordance with the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that special measures are required in relation to this school The school will draw up an action plan that shows how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will monitor the school’s progress on a termly basis."
