T0NY James will probably not be a particularly happy man today. The beleaguered headteacher of Elgar Technology College has gone to work in the knowledge that he has got one year to improve his school. The ruling from the Government inspectors is utterly damning. Elgar has been given the lowest of four ratings and rated as inadequate. Yes, it's as bad as that.

The inspectors were always going to home in last year's poor exam results. Of course they would - they are, after all, the representatives of a Government obsessed with performance attainment.

This newspaper has never been afraid to contemplate hard truths. Nevertheless, we believe that this college will - given the right encouragement and support - ultimately prevail despite some decidedly dark clouds on the horizon.

Let us therefore look to Elgar's strengths. Under the leadership of Mr James, truancy has been cut and behavioural problems reduced. The headteacher has also refrained from expelling troublesome pupils. That is a brave policy to pursue.

And there are areas of teaching that have blossomed under his guidance, most notably physical education and the arts.

But this will remain an uphill struggle. A massive improvement in literacy and numeracy skills is simply not negotiable - future employers now have a high expectation in these areas. That is the stark reality.

Mr James must now be left alone to get on with the task. We are sure he will eventually succeed - but he will need the full support of the Worcester community. Let's do it.