A SCIENCE teacher has been banned from teaching for two years because he did not make lessons challenging enough.

John Entwistle, who taught at Pershore High School for more than 20 years, was found guilty of serious professional incompetence by England's General Teaching Council.

Clive Corbett, the school's headteacher, said Mr Entwistle's ban was in the best interests of children at the school.

Mr Corbett said: "He was not challenging pupils adequately and not getting the best out of them. Teachers have got a job to do and John did not meet the targets we set."

The teaching council ruled that between October 2002 and October 2003 Mr Entwistle did not assess pupils' work regularly and did not provide adequate feedback.

It also said that his classroom management and the way he spoke to students was poor. He resigned at the end of the spring term last year after failing to meet performance targets. Mr Corbett added: "When I became head in September 2002 I was made aware that concerns existed about his performance and we started an extensive period of support.

"There was huge support that went into the man. We wanted to be fair to the kids."

Mr Entwistle had been teacher at Pershore since 1979, the only teaching job he had held.

The council heard there had been concerns about his performance since the mid-1990s and in 2002 there was a series of complaints from parents.

The ban will ensure Mr Entwistle does not teach in another school unless he is retrained.

Steven Davies, Worcestershire County Council's science inspector, conducted classroom monitoring on Mr Entwistle.

He said: "He was a traditional teacher, his subject knowledge was good.

"His strength was that he would try to relate to children, but I wonder just how successful he was at that.

"He was traditional in the way he taught but did not engage children using new teaching methods.

"It's absolutely sad that it had to come to this. It was the final straw."