An academy trust has been warned over the future of its special school, which has gone from being rated as “outstanding” to “inadequate” in just over two years.
The Department for Education has issued a minded to terminate letter after the most recent inspection of Brookfield School, in Herefordshire, placed it in special measures.
The school, which caters for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties, had previously been rated as “outstanding” until the Autumn of 2017.
Exclusive: Outstanding rated school used unlawful exclusions
Commissioner: Andrew Warren appointed as RSC for the West Midlands
Quick read: Major MATs among trusts given academy warnings
And one of its previous head Oremi Evans - had been given a damehood for services to education in 2015.
However the school has since had two critical Ofsted inspections.
The most recent report, from December last year, said the quality of education at the school was poor and that too many pupils were not learning enough because of inconsistent staffing and poor behaviour.
The report said that some of the oldest pupils said they “do not feel the staff understand their special needs, such as autism, well enough”.
It added: “Some older pupils feel the school is ‘gloomy and dim’ and has ‘no soul’.”
However, it also noted that a new headteacher had been appointed in September of last year who had started to address weaknesses that have developed over several years. Ofsted said the curriculum, teaching and behaviour had started to improve.
Today the regional schools commissioner for the West Midlands Andrew Warren has issued a minded to terminate letter to the Brookfield Schools Ltd trust, which runs the school.
It calls for the trust to provide its post-inspection action plan and information about improvements pupils are making with early reading and phonics and plans leaders have to improve behaviour and attendance.
The letter says that if the regional schools’ commissioner is not satisfied in the trust’s capacity to improve the school he can issue a termination warning notice, which can start the process of an academy being rebrokered to another trust.
The school’s headteacher Michelle Parkes said: “The newly appointed headteacher and board of trustees are working tirelessly on our action plan in order to stabilise the school.
“In particular, we have already undertaken a full audit and restructure and are confident that the school will be financially secure.”
Ofsted’s previous inspection of the school, under different leadership, in 2017, found that unlawful exclusions and holding the door shut on pupil isolation rooms were two of the behaviour tactics which had been used in the past.
This report, which found the school to require improvement, suggested that these practices had been going on in the school for some time but had stopped with the appointment of the then headteacher David Gaston in 2017.
Brookfield was rated “outstanding” by Ofsted in 2014.
