Headteacher leaves failing Mansfield school

The headteacher of a Mansfield school has left his position before the latest damning Ofsted report was published, it is understood.

Mike Smith had been principal at the failing Queen Elizabeth’s Academy for a number of years, but the Chad has learned that he stood down following the school’s recent takeover by the Diverse Academies Learning Partnership (DALP).

Queen Elizabeth’s was dumped back into special measures at the start of the year by for the third time in just four years.

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Mr Smith had been at the helm of the school during at least two of the three damning reports.

In January’s report, Queen Elizabeth’s Academy received the worst possible mark in four out of six key areas during a recent inspection.

At the time, Mr Smith defended the report, saying the school had made “enormous strides” forward.

But during a routine monitoring inspection in July, of which the results were published this week, Ofsted heaped even more criticism onto the school.

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During the two-day inspection on July 6 and 7, an Ofsted inspector found that leaders and managers at the school were not taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

The inspector also said the trust’s statement of action was not fit for purpose, along with the improvement plan.

In a letter written by Ofsted inspector Zarina Connolly, she also added: “Having considered all the evidence, I strongly recommend that the academy does not seek to appoint newly-qualified teachers.”

DALP, which announced the takeover of Chesterfield Road South school last week, would not comment on whether Mr Smith’s departure was linked to the monitoring inspection or would provide any other reason for him leaving.

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It was confirmed that Helena Brothwell had since become acting academy director of the school following Mr Smith’s departure.

The school was taken over by DALP prior to the start of the new school year term, as was Wainwright Primary in Mansfield.

The Harrop White Road school was also found to require improvement after 
Ofsted inspectors visited earlier this summer, although it was not put into special measures.

Both had been part of the School Partnership Trust Academies (SPTA).

The Mansfield schools now join seven others as part of DALP, including academies in Tuxford and Hucknall.

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