WHEN two of a borough's secondary schools were put into special measures within a few weeks of each other loud alarm bells began ringing.

Fingers were pointed and theories put forward as to how and why teachers, governors and an award-winning authority like Blackburn with Darwen Council could have found themselves in this position following reports by Ofsted Inspectors.

The reports said both Darwen Moorland and Blackburn's Queen's Park High Schools were "unsatisfactory."

The latter was labelled after it was shown to be the worst performer last year in East Lancashire at GCSE level with only 16 per cent of pupils achieving A*-C grades.

Now the school's head Ian Bott has promised a "back to basics" approach to improve standards.

Improving reading and writing skills will be a priority in a school which will become much more "focused and rigorous," he says.

Some might argue that focus on such absolute essentials should never have been lost in the first place.

Youngsters must have good basic skills - and a lot of that work starts in primary schools - as the foundation of their education.

Confidence, better behaviour and good attendance should naturally improve if these foundations are solid. That's surely common sense.