‘Bully attack’ school slammed
ALMONDBURY Community School in Huddersfield, which was at the centre of a media storm last year following the emergence of shocking bullying videos, has been branded “inadequate” by inspectors with education watchdog Ofsted.
The damning 15-page report criticises “ineffective” safeguarding and “variable” and “weak” teaching.
It also found fault with senior leaders who lacked oversight of whole-school issues such as exclusions, racist incidents, bullying and behaviour, which limited their ability to identify and tackle patterns of concern.
They had not ensured that pupils were safe from abuse and neglect because they had not been vigilant in responding to concerns recorded by staff. The school’s governors were also criticised for not challenging leaders to improve the quality of teaching and for failing to check on the quality of the school’s work around safeguarding.
The school was rated inadequate in effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for pupils, and early years provision.
It was rated as requiring improvement in personal development, behaviour and welfare.
Responding to the report, the school said it recognised that more work was required to make the improvements required.
But it stressed that many of the issues raised by Ofsted following its unannounced two-day visit on December 6 and 7 had already been identified, with “strong action” being taken to address them.
A spokesman for Kirklees Council said it was monitoring progress on a daily basis.
There was some good news. The vast majority of pupils said they felt “happy and safe” at the school, which has 694 pupils aged from 3-16.
And pupils new to speaking English, some of whom were recent arrivals to the country, told inspectors they felt happy and safe and had made friends since arriving at the school.
The five-member Ofsted inspection took place just days after video emerged of separate attacks on two Syrian refugee children - a teenage boy and his younger sister.
The footage went viral and caused outrage around the world.
Ofsted’s Chief Inspector of Schools, Amanda Spielman, said she was “appalled” and had received 400 complaints.
Inspectors acknowledged that “a serious incident” had occurred at the school since a previous inspection in June 2017 and that it was under investigation “by the appropriate authorities”.
They wrote: “While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind, actions taken by the school in response to the incident were considered alongside the other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements.”
Inspectors said school leaders should be vigilant in identifying pupils at risk of abuse or neglect, and that the school should develop systems to analyse data about behaviour, racist incidents, exclusions and bullying “so that patterns of concern can be identified and addressed”.
A school spokesman said: “There have been numerous changes and improvements, as well as a thorough review of safeguarding procedures, and these actions have already had a positive impact.
“The inspection also highlighted strengths within the school, including our nationally recognised work with children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
“A new board of governors has been appointed to accelerate improvement and its members are all very skilled and experienced.
“The school is also receiving extra leadership support and there is a clear focus on increasing the pace of change for the benefit of current and future pupils.
“We are at the heart of our local community, who continue to be very supportive at a challenging time.
“Our commitment to achieving high standards of care and education for all pupils has never been stronger.”