School issued warning after damning Ofsted inspection brands it 'inadequate'

The government has warned that unless standards improve at a Salford school it will be transferred to a different trust to run. The move comes after a damning Ofsted inspection report on Arbour Academy which rated it inadequate.

The inspection report, published in September, found both the quality of education and leadership and management were inadequate. The behaviour and attitudes of pupils and their personal development both required improvement.

Now the Department of Education has issued a termination warning notice to the Kings Academy Trust which runs the school, meaning the Secretary of State may end the funding agreement with the school. A pupil referral unit, it caters for around 65 students who are not able to attend mainstream school. This can include pupils who have been excluded from other schools and students with special educational needs.

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But the Trust says that action is already being taken to achieve "rapid" improvement and a new leadership team has been brought in at the school.

In a letter to the Trust, Vicky Beer, Regional Director North West for the DfE, says: "As Regional Director, I need to be satisfied that the trust has capacity to deliver rapid and sustainable improvement at the academy. If I am not satisfied that this can be achieved, I will consider whether to terminate the funding agreement in order to transfer the academy to an alternative academy trust.

"In making the decision on whether to terminate the funding agreement I will consider any written representations the trust wishes to make in response to this Termination Warning Notice."

She says the Ofsted report revealed that until more recently, the school had not acted quickly enough to address the decline in pupils’ quality of education. She says "a lack of cohesion in the curriculum" has led to pupils’ weak achievement.

She adds: "In some subjects, the school has not ensured that staff receive the information that they need to build pupils’ knowledge over time. The systems for assessing pupils’ learning and identifying the gaps in their knowledge are underdeveloped.

"There is no coherent programme to support those pupils at the earliest stages of learning to read. The additional needs of pupils with SEND (special educational needs) are not identified. This means that the delivery of the curriculum is not shaped well enough to enable these pupils to overcome their barriers to learning."

The Ofsted report highlighted pupil attendance rates as low with some not having to attend full time and receiving some learning online instead. The report said: "This is having a detrimental impact, not only on their learning, but also on their social and emotional development."

Inspectors concluded that as a result, pupils "miss out on important learning and key messages about growing up in modern day Britain." In some instances, the school has not ensured that it keeps suitable records to identify the actions that have been taken in relation to safeguarding incidents.

But they also found that pupils’ behaviour has improved and the school is "a calm environment." Pupils move sensibly from lesson to lesson. The relationships between pupils and staff are positive. Staff understand the specific needs of different pupils. They help pupils to manage their emotions increasingly well. Pupils are courteous to each other, often showing an understanding of each other’s needs

The school on Eccles New Road, Eccles, converted to become an Academy in April 2023. When its predecessor school, The Canterbury Centre was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be good overall.

Laurence Cooper, chairman of the Kings Academy Trust, said: "We received a termination notice as part of the due process from the Department for Education following Arbour Academy's OFSTED inspection in the Summer. We are committed to implementing the rapid school improvement needed at Arbour Academy as a new converter into the Kings Academy Trust.

"We welcomed the Ofsted inspection in June as it brought to light historic issues that were having a detrimental impact on the school. A failure to recover from the Covid pandemic has resulted in a steep decline in standards since its last inspection. Rapid action has already been taken and a new Governing Body is in place along with a new Senior Leadership Team. The Trust will be working with HMI, the Local Authority and the DfE to rapidly turn this school around. We look forward to working with pupils, parents and the community in achieving this."