School falls back into special measures

A STRUGGLING North Yorkshire secondary school has fallen back into special measures following a damning Ofsted report.

Graham School in Scarborough has been rated ‘inadequate’ in all areas by the education watchdog following an inspection at the school last month.

Inspectors found a number of factors that have a “seriously negative impact on the continuity and quality of teaching and learning”, including the high absence rate of teachers, difficulties in recruitment, frequent use of temporary staff and the high incidence of classes taught by more than one teacher.

At the time of the inspection, the school was under the leadership of Helen McEvoy, who suddenly retired from her role after three years as headteacher. Ms McEvoy was replaced earlier this month by a new leadership team, including new headteacher Rob Brockwell, who have pledged to make the school ‘outstanding’.

Mr Brockwell said: “We intend to move quickly beyond this Ofsted judgement. I view this new start as a great opportunity. Staff members are up for the challenge and we will all work together to raise and sustain teaching standards and to build students’ selfconfidence.”

The school was placed in special measures in December 2013 and was given a rating of ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted in November 2015.