A Birmingham school with more than 1,000 pupils has been placed into special measures with younger children saying they don’t feel safe in the playground.
Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre was rated “inadequate” by inspectors – less than a month after nearby St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School suffered the same fate.
The damning report came just a year after it was rated as “good” by Ofsted.
A team of five inspectors visited the school, which has 1,150 pupils, in September and slated the overall efficiency, the quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of children and leadership in a damning report.
They singled out lesson planning, marking and relationships between subject leaders and staff as areas requiring improvement, although they praised improved attendance levels and the high proportion of students who go on to employment, education and training.
The report said: “Too many students in Key Stages 3 and 4 underachieve in English, mathematics and some other subjects because the progress they make is too slow.
“The majority of teaching is either inadequate or requires improvement.
“A small but significant number of younger students told inspectors they did not feel safe around the school grounds. They said this was because of the behaviour of older students.”
A parent with a son at the school, who asked not to be named, said: “I was surprised by the outcome of the inspection and had no idea there were any problems. We have always been pleased with the school and all my children have done well there over the years.”
A spokesperson for the school said: “We are very disappointed by this outcome but are determined to address the issues raised in the report. Our governors, supported by the local authority, have ensured the school has strong leadership with the appointment of a new interim head teacher, Alistair McMillan.
“Alongside this our school improvement action plan will see the school working closely with Shenley Academy and the local authority to ensure that we improve the quality of teaching and students’ achievement, improve the impact of leaders and managers, including governors, and improve behaviour and safety.”
