A damning Ofsted inspection has rated a North Yorkshire secondary school ‘inadequate’.
The report into Barlby High School in Selby says: “Many pupils at this school feel unsafe.” Bullying is said to be ‘frequent’, with some pupils “targeted with homophobic abuse”.
There are unconfirmed reports that the headteacher, Julie Caddell, has resigned in the wake of the report, published today (Friday).
Hope Sentamu Learning Trust, which runs Barlby High said a major shake-up in the school leadership team is underway to tackle the “very important issues” highlighted by Ofsted.
Here are some of the observations made by the Ofsted inspectors, who visited the 581-pupil school in November:
- Despite some pupils acting as anti-bullying ambassadors, many pupils told inspectors that bullying is frequent. Many pupils do not report bullying as they do not think it will help.
- There are areas of the school site that some pupils, especially younger pupils, avoid. This is because they feel vulnerable, especially when teachers are not present. Many pupils told inspectors that they do not report bullying because the problem will get worse.
- Some pupils said that homophobic language is used regularly around school. Others told inspectors that they had been victims of homophobic abuse.
- Pupils told inspectors that, in some lessons, too much time is taken up by teachers having to deal with poor behaviour.
- Leaders do not have a clear understanding of the extent of bullying in the school.
- The quality of education requires improvement because the curriculum is not yet clearly sequenced in all subjects.
- The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.
Improvements needed
The inspectors praised some aspects of the school.
“Many pupils spoke warmly about relationships with teachers. Pupils with education, health and care plans receive appropriate support to help them to access the curriculum,” the report said.
“Some pupils were enthusiastic about after-school clubs they could attend, for example rugby and the astronomy club.”
Also, teachers “feel well supported by colleagues in their department”.
But this is how it rated Barlby High:
- Overall effectivess: Inadequate
- The quality of education: Requires improvement
- Personal development: Inadequate
- Leadership and management: Inadequate.
Inspectors have put forward nine things the school needs to improve. These include developing policies to counter bullying, better teaching about “diversity, respect, tolerance and the appropriate use of language”, and improving safety systems.
Parents were shocked by the report. One said on Facebook: “This is a dreadful report. I really hope things improve at the school. The fact that children feel unsafe is really worrying.”
Another commented: “I had many issues that were never dealt with so I am certainly not surprised with the report.”
Personal apology
A letter has been sent to parents today (Friday) from Helen Winn, chief executive of Hope Sentamu Learning Trust. In it, she says:
Clearly it is a prerequisite that every child should feel safe in a school, and I would like to apologise personally to you, and your child/ren, that we have not ensured that it is always the case.
The health, safety and wellbeing of our students are paramount and I can give you my personal assurance that we are rectifying this situation with the utmost seriousness; that we will always take any reports of bullying exceptionally seriously; and that we will always tackle poor behaviour.
A spokesperson for Barlby High told YorkMix: “The health, safety and wellbeing of our students are paramount and we are working exceptionally hard to resolve the very important issues that Ofsted has highlighted.
“Central to this is the action plan that we have drawn up and which we are already enacting. This includes the introduction before Christmas of a new executive leadership model for Barlby High School, which means that the school now has additional leadership capacity, expertise and support.
“The trust’s very experienced trust inclusion lead is also now working alongside the school inclusion team, and we are in the progress of recruiting additional behaviour managers and a new full-time support services manager.
“We are already seeing the benefits of these new arrangements and are confident that they will contribute strongly to rapid and sustained improvement.”
Barlby High converted to become an academy in September 2017. When its predecessor school, Barlby High School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.
It boys and girls aged 11 to 16.