AN ACADEMY in Blunsdon led by a headteacher who found the role “overwhelming” has gone into special measures after Ofsted inspectors criticised its use of funding, a lack of accountability from governors and poor behaviour management.

St Leonard’s Church of England Primary Academy opened in 2012 after changing from a primary school which had been rated outstanding. But its rating has now plummeted to inadequate after inspectors visited in March. The school’s progress measures put pupils in the bottom 20 per cent of the country for literacy and the bottom five per cent for mathematics.

Inspectors noted: “The headteacher was appointed in September 2017. Although the chair of governors has been very supportive, the headteacher has not received appropriate leadership training. Consequently, the role is overwhelming.

“There has been no external validation or guidance for several years. Members, trustees and governors are one and the same. This has led to a lack of accountability. Governors do not hold senior leaders to account stringently for the school’s performance, including the use of the pupil premium, the use of the physical education and sport premium and special educational needs and disabilities funding. Their plans are not improving the school.

“Leaders do not manage the funding for pupils with SEND effectively. They do not know if these pupils are doing as well as expected.

“Teaching assistants work with pupils with SEND, but there is no monitoring of their actions, no training and no observation of their work

“Staff do not have an effective behaviour management policy. As a result, some poor behaviour continues, and staff do not know how to deal with it. There is no consistent approach to discipline.”

Inspectors also said learning was haphazard. "Teachers do not plan effectively. They fail to consider the ability of pupils. This leads to the most able pupils losing valuable learning time. Pupils enter the school with attainment that is above average.

“However, the progress they make while at school is poor. Disadvantaged pupils do not make as much progress as other pupils. The pupil premium is not used to support them well enough. Pupils lack the will to do better and find out for themselves when they are stuck.

“Parents’ reports do not explain how well their child is progressing, how well their child is doing in relation to the standards expected and what their child needs to do to improve. Older pupils do not know how to proofread and edit their work so errors continue.”

Inspectors found some things worth praising, including the high attendance, current affairs knowledge, and respectful attitudes of pupils, plus the effective safeguarding and the successful teaching of phonics.

Head teacher Nicky Mills said: “The governors and staff are clearly very disappointed with the outcome of our recent Ofsted inspection.

“We are committed to continuing the improvements for the pupils at St Leonard’s and we are confident that with additional external support, we can rapidly address the concerns raised in the report.

"The governors, head teacher, diocese and whole staff team are fully committed to school improvement and we are putting into place a robust action plan which addresses all areas of development identified by the Ofsted report.

“We were pleased that the report acknowledges that safeguarding is effective and both our phonics and Key Stage 1 results continue to be above national average.

“A well-attended meeting at the school showed the depth of the support for the school from the parents.

“Our ambition and drive for the school to provide the very best education for all our children will remain.”