HEADTEACHER Les Jones stressed this week he had taken action to address concerns raised by a government schools inspector.

Mr Jones is the head at Congleton High School, which was inspected by Graeme Clarke from OFSTED in December.

He said a significantly large minority of parents were unhappy with the way the school had established itself, and were critical of its management.

He also found that the quality of provision in mathematics, geography and religious education was unsatisfactory.

Mr Jones said the inspector had identified some areas of concern, and action had already been taken to address those.

"Reorganisation created many challenges when the school opened in September 2000," he said.

"We are improving the school systematically, and this work will take a little longer to complete.

"We've had to bring in many new staff. Fortunately we have already been able to appoint new teachers in key areas such as mathematics."

A quarter of parents filled in questionnaires asking for their views of the school.

Some 53 per cent felt it didn't work closely with parents, and 52 per cent felt they were not kept well informed about how their child was getting on.

Some 40 per cent disagreed with the statement the school was well led and managed.

Some 37 per cent felt their child did not receive enough homework, and 29 per cent were concerned about pupils' behaviour in school.

Mr Clarke said the failure to recruit appropriately qualified teachers had caused severe problems in the maths department, and teaching in a third of maths lessons was unsatisfactory.

He also said the quality of teaching was good overall, and students worked hard.