School given funding warning over bullying

Homophobic “name-calling” has prompted the Government to issue a funding threat to a school in a leading academy chain.

Ark Kings Academy in Birmingham was rated “inadequate” in its latest Ofsted report. The school regulator found that secondary pupils did not feel safe, while “bullying, derogatory language and homophobic behaviours are commonplace”.

Now the Department for Education has stepped in to issue a termination warning notice to the school, one of 39 in the Ark academy trust which says it is among the highest achieving in the country.