Damning Ofsted report confirms what parents's knew that Harlow Academy was "not safe'

"The lack of staff leaves pupils at imminent risk of harm” the document published on Thursday, reads.

It comes after education watchdogs visited the The Evolve Trust-run Nottingham Road school at Harlow Wood.

After the trust took over the former Fountaindale School, parents of pupils aged 3 – 18, with special educational needs raised a raft of issues with many taking their children out over safety concerns.

Some contacted your Chad claiming children were being restrained for long periods in wheelchairs, some coming home with soiled diapers and others were not getting ‘one to one care,’ due to staffing.

Now, the Ofsted report confirms the parents worst concerns saying: "Pupils are not safe in this school.”

The school was found to be “inadequate” on six counts for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, early years provision and sixth-form provision.

Inspectors visited on January 18 and 19, and on January 20, the academy closed for a week amid speculation over “staffing issues”.

The South Yorkshire-based Nexus Multi Academy Trust then stepped in to help the failing school, bringing in Luci Windle as executive headteacher. Greenwood Academies Trust was also brought in to provide additional support, with Wayne Norrie appointed as interim CEO.

Since then, a new board of trustees has also been appointed for Evolve, including Andy Childs MBE as interim chair.

Mr Norrie, a former Ofsted inspector himself, has pledged pupils’ safety as “immediate and top priority”, adding the report had made “very difficult reading”.

The Ofsted report reads "Staff do their best to care and provide for the complex needs of pupils. But there are not enough staff to make sure that all pupils are properly cared for. The lack of staff leaves pupils at imminent risk of harm.”

Although some pupils were “happy to come to school” some pupils’ “basic needs are unmet. They communicate their distress. Some are neglected because staff are busy dealing with other pupils’ urgent care needs,” the report states.

“Pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education. They are not making the progress they should. Some parents and carers are worried that their children are falling further behind. Not all staff have had the right training to teach pupils well.”

Senior leaders also “failed to recognise and record” all incidents of inappropriate restraint,” “saying many experienced had left the school in recent months, leaders have not replaced them.

Senior leaders also failed to heed “concerns from parents, staff and other professionals about unsafe staffing levels”.

Some parents are now considering legal action.

Kerrie Kirkpatrick, who’s son Aaron is at the school, said :“The parents are in absolute shock at this report.

"We knew it was bad, it’s heartbreaking, children left alone doing anything to get attention, it confirmed everything we knew and makes you wonder what else happened.

"There just weren’t enough staff, our children weren’t safe, the experienced staff they knew and trusted left in their droves, they weren’t replaced.

"There are people at Evolve who need to be held accountable for what they have done. Some parents are looking at going down the legal route once all the reports are done, I know one has already.”

Read the Ofsted report here.

Mr Norrie said: “Nothing is more important than the safety of our children and this is our immediate and top priority. Regrettably, this report makes for very difficult reading, but I would like to personally assure our school community that we are taking the findings of the report incredibly seriously.

“As educators, we have a duty of care to ensure provision is of the very highest standards and that all pupils can learn in a safe and welcoming environment at all times. As such, we have taken swift and effective action to ensure all children attending the Academy are now safe.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our parents, carers and colleagues for their understanding, patience and support at this challenging time however, I hope they agree that the positive changes made so far are helping create school they can be proud of.”

Mr Child said: “We know there is still much more work to be done, but the new board of trustees are also confident the academy’s relationships with parents and carers, the passion of our colleagues and the deep care we all share for our pupils, coupled with the expertise of the new leadership team, will enable The Harlow Academy to live up to our shared vision for the school and provide the best possible education for our young people.”

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