Furious parent slams Ofsted over handling of Mansfield SEN school failings

The Harlow Academy, Nottingham Road, Harlow Wood, was temporarily closed following a damning report by Ofsted, following an inspection in January 2022.

But Michelle Carr, of Blidworth, whose daughter attends the school, says Ofsted should have acted far sooner than it did.

A newly-published report by Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership revealed it was first raised back in 2021 that Ofsted should consider inspecting the school, but it did not.

The review states: “In autumn term 2021, there were a series of serious incidents of concern, almost all reported by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust staff at the school.

Following the incidents, the report notes, there were discussions between NHNT and Nottinghamshire Council.

The NHFT also wrote to Ofsted sharing the incidents and there were discussions between the council, Ofsted and the Regional Schools Commissioner, including whether Ofsted should inspect the academy.

“These discussions did not lead to action,” the report states.

“There was a sense other agencies were waiting for Ofsted to inspect and did not initiate their own action.”

Eventually, the school was closed for two weeks and has now reopened as Fountaindale School as part of the Nexus Multi-Academy Trust and is doing much better.

But parents like Michelle are now planning to formally complain about Ofsted and the watchdog’s lack of action when incidents were first brought to light.

She said: “We were shocked to discover Ofsted knew about what was going on at the school a long time before they actually came in to do something about it.

"Ofsted did not act in the best interests and safety of our children.

"The school has been under scrutiny for some time over safeguarding issues so, in theory, it should have been on Ofsted’s radar for a long time before they did anything.

"There has now been an independent investigation into where the blame for the failings lies and Ofsted is mentioned the most times.

"When you’ve got health professionals and their manager who were at the school making formal complaints to Ofsted about the school and child endangerment, why on earth did Ofsted not act, and that’s before you had 30-odd parents complaining about the school as well.

"We complained to everybody, the police, the council, even the NSPCC and everyone said they couldn’t do anything because it wasn’t really their jurisdiction as it was an academy.

"But the one body you would expect to act on it would be Ofsted, but they didn’t and so our children were left to suffer more abuse."

Michelle says she and her fellow group of parents will now be making a formal complaint to the education ombundsman.

She said: “We’ve been asking for some time now for Ofsted to come in and say something, apologise to the parents for not acting sooner, but they refuse to say anything or make any comment.

“It’s like they don’t care.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Our inspections are one way of highlighting problems where it is for other agencies with statutory responsibilities for safeguarding to take action.

"And this review highlights the importance of those agencies acting quickly when concerns are raised.

"We are looking carefully at the issues raised in the review to consider the way we, in conjunction with other agencies, identify concerns around children’s safety and care in schools.”