A Birmingham head teacher investigated over allegations she removed unruly pupils before an Ofsted inspection has been secretly recorded admitting she covered up attendance figures during a follow-up visit by the Government body.

Philomena Steele, head of St Edmund Campion School, Erdington, told staff she had “fudged the issue” with inspectors when 150 pupils were not registered on the day of a spot-check.

She said the school automatically would have been given a 'Notice To Improve' if the watchdog had found out.

She claims that some of the unregistered pupils were in school but had turned up too late to be marked present.

A member of staff secretly recorded her comments at a meeting of 90 staff the day after the inspection. Two members of staff have since been suspended for breach of confidentiality after they raised concerns about the comments to the city council.

The school is already being investigated over claims unruly pupils were shipped out to neighbouring Catholic secondaries during a 2009 inspection by Ofsted.

Mrs Steele declined to comment on her latest remarks when approached by the Birmingham Post at her home in Sutton Coldfield.

Ofsted said it could not confirm whether the school – which has 974 pupils registered aged between 11 and 18 – or Mrs Steele were being investigated over the recording.

The remarks to staff followed a surprise two-day inspection at the end of last month when the school was given just 20 minutes notice that Ofsted officials were on their way.

On the recording, which was passed to the Post, the head teacher said the school was under pressure to improve attendance figures.

She can be heard to say: “We were reminded at the end of the feedback we are still vulnerable regarding our attendance.

“I did not like to share with them how many students were not registered yesterday.

“I think it was 140, 150 students were not marked as present.

“I did manage to hide that from the inspector but he did keep hovering and asking for the figures.

“It’s a legal requirement and yesterday I was fudging the issue with him.

“If he had got that they weren’t registered, it’s immediate notice because it’s a legislative thing that you have to get right.”

Staff said Mrs Steele was referring to a “Notice to Improve.”

The school was previously given a Notice to Improve – a status for schools which are failing but where inspectors feel there is capacity for improvements – in May 2008. The notice was lifted in June 2009.

During the recording, Mrs Steele said she was surprised by inspectors carrying out a “Section 8” spot-check.

She told staff at the meeting that the school was the first in Birmingham to be made the subject of a short notice inspection.

“I had never heard of a Section 8 inspection,” she said.

“I had a letter from Ofsted a few days ago where they had listed a series of complaints that had been made on a regular basis by three complainants.

“They just wanted me to be aware of the complaints.

“They gave no impression that it would be followed by a Section 8 inspection, but it was.”

Tony Pearce, acting regional officer for the NUT West Midlands, said: “The point the head was making to the staff was that there was a need for accuracy in recording pupils attendances and that more pupils had been in attendance on that day than had been recorded.”

The school was previously investigated over claims unruly pupils were taken out of school during a 2009 inspection.

Among the claims that Mrs Steele made to staff at the meeting was that the school had been cleared over these earlier allegations and given a clean bill of health by Ofsted following last month’s visit.

But an e-mail seen by the Post, from a senior Ofsted figure, said the inspection was to check whether an investigation into the earlier claims by the watchdog and the city council were having an effect on teaching.

Although reports by Ofsted and the Department for Education into the claims have not been completed, the council’s own investigators said they could not find any evidence to support the allegations that pupils were removed or claims by a handful of staff members that they were bullied by the head teacher.

The investigation was completed in October last year but its finding were only recently leaked to the Birmingham Post.

The city council continues to refuse to comment on its contents, claiming that doing so could prejudice tribunal hearings being brought by former teachers.

The Post can also reveal the school is facing several other issues including a £500,000 budget shortfall by next year unless it slashes staff numbers. A proposal for redundancies given to staff last month said there was “an urgent need” to save cash by shedding jobs.

Following the local authority’s first investigation, it, along with the Diocesan Schools Commission, replaced the former chairman of governors, Tom Davenport, with the Rev Stuart Hill.

Mr Hill has refused to comment on the recording.

Two priests who sit on the governing body, Fr John Batthula and the Rev Gabriel Maguire, wrote a letter governors and staff last November saying they did not feel they could celebrate Mass while there were unresolved complaints against the school.

Both priests have now confirmed they were again contributing to all school activities and Mr Maguire said he saw a “bright future” for the school.

Meanwhile, Erdington’s Labour MP Jack Dromey said he had received a copy of the recording.

He said: “I have had evidence submitted to me which I have as the local MP a duty to pass on to Ofsted. I will in addition be meeting after Easter with the head and chairman of governors. I want to hear first-hand what the school has to say.”

A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said: “We are unable to comment due to a number of ongoing disciplinary proceedings on a number of issues at the school.”

A spokesman for Ofsted said: “While Ofsted does not comment about individual schools, we take very seriously any allegations that evidence may be hidden from inspectors during inspections. If any such complaint were received it would be investigated through our normal procedures for complaints about schools.

“The latest inspection outcome for the school will be published in due course.”