More pupils to join once-troubled school after ‘rapid improvements’

A RURAL school once placed in special measures amid reports of assaults on staff is expanding its pupil numbers, with education officials saying it has gone from “strength to strength”.

Forest Moor School in Nidderdale, originally named Foremost School, was placed in special measures in 2013 after a troubled two years. Supporting children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties from across North Yorkshire, it had been plagued with difficulties since it opened at a cost of £11m.

Now, despite last month being told it still requires improvement in its latest Ofsted inspection, North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) reveals it is to expand its reach with more than 40 pupils on the roll for September.

“Forest Moor goes from strength to strength,” said County Coun Patrick Mulligan, executive member for schools. “We are delighted with its achievements over the past year and we can look forward to an exciting future for the school in the years ahead and the specialist provision it can offer to some of the most vulnerable children we care for in the county.”

Ofsted inspectors carried out a recent inspection in May, finding the school in need of improvement. While leadership, personal development and pupils’ behaviour and welfare were rated good, improvements were needed in quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils, inspectors found.

“Middle leaders do not yet make as strong a contribution as they could to monitoring and improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment,” the report said. “The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inconsistent across the school.”

But NYCC says the school has a proven track record in improving children and young people’s behaviour and supporting their mental health, and a reputation for nurturing and strong leadership.

“The school has improved rapidly in the last few years under its new leadership, since moving out of special measures in 2015,” a statement issued by the authority said. “Although the school has previously faced challenging times, NYCC believes it has an important role to play in a new and more coherent local authority behaviour strategy”.