THE acting headteacher of Didcot Girls’ School believes his strict line on behaviour and uniform has improved pupils’ academic performance.

Fernand Dierckens said the school had made dramatic improvements since he took over last September, following the retirement of the previous head after criticism of the school by Ofsted inspectors.

The education watchdog downgraded the 1,350-pupil school’s rating to “satisfactory” after an inspection last March, saying “disruptive behaviour” was harming pupils’ performance.

Six months after taking over, Mr Dierckens says changes to the school will mean exam results will improve this summer.

He said: “If you ask a student what’s different, they say they now know where they stand.

“They’re taking pride in their school again, and that’s very noticeable.

“They’re focused in work and in lessons.”

He added: “There has been a very strict focus on uniform.

“I think the whole community has commented on that, ranging from the mayor of Didcot to our neighbours.

“People have said they feel the presence of the school in the community again, through the fact that the girls are representing the school in a smart uniform.”

He said that with help from the county council, governors and staff, he had also encouraged parents to become as involved as possible in the school, and put extra resources into maths teaching.

The school has been awarded £60,000 by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to run one-to-one coaching in key subjects, to improve GCSE results.

Much of the money will be used to run Saturday morning study sessions for Year 11 and Year 10 pupils in maths, English and humanities, as well as Easter holiday sessions in the run-up to this summer’s GCSE exams.

As part of the Ridgeway Partnership of schools, the school has also been awarded £125,000 to create a healthcare teaching suite to run a society, health and development diploma from September.

Mr Dierckens, a Belgian who has taught modern languages at the school since 1996, said he hoped to be appointed the school’s permanent headteacher.

Interviews take place next month.