School may be forced to shut amid bullying claims

A BIRMINGHAM school has been given a ‘termination warning’ – a potential notice to close – amid reports of homophobic bullying and derogatory language.

It comes after the Post recently revealed a damning Ofsted report into Ark Kings Academy.

The Department for Education handed a warning notice to the Kings Norton school after inspectors found that secondary pupils did not feel safe.

It was claimed “bullying, derogatory language and homophobic behaviours are commonplace” at the academy.

Pupils also had “no confidence that staff will support them when they raise concerns”, and “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pupils experience repeated discriminatory behaviour against them”, Ofsted found.

The DfE said the school’s leaders had not recognised these issues so they could not take the “right steps” to prevent them.

The school Ofsted report highlighted how pupils said there were “high levels of bullying and prejudiced behaviour” which went unrecorded. “Pupils feel that they have to tolerate the frequent sexual harassment towards them,” the report said.

It added: “Some pupils, particularly those who identify as LGBT, experience repeated name-calling and prejudiced behaviour. This means that pupils do not feel safe in the school.”

The academy had been deemed ‘inadequate’ in four out of five areas in the Ofsted inspection. The Kings Norton school was told it must improve in areas including truancy and safeguarding, which was branded ‘ineffective’.

An Ark Academy spokesperson said: “Whilst very disappointed with the inspection judgment, we fully accept the findings of the inspection report. We had identified many of the issues prior to the inspection and had taken action to begin to address these ahead of the inspection.

“That work has gathered pace since, and we are very confident the school will improve rapidly over the coming months.”