School put in special measures over safety fears

A school where the behaviour of some students was described by inspectors as "dangerous and disrespectful", leaving other pupils and staff feeling unsafe, has been put into special measures.

Beckfoot Thornton School in Bradford was found in an inspection in April to be "failing to provide an acceptable standard of education", a report has said.

School leaders had failed to deal effectively with child-on-child violence and bullying and were not adequately protecting children from harm, according to the report by education watchdog Ofsted.

A spokesperson for Beckfoot Trust, which manages the school, said it had "worked rapidly to implement a number of changes".

"The health, safety and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our top priority," the trust spokesperson said.

"Therefore, our focus has been to ensure the school has the support, resources and leadership capacity it needs to deliver sustained improvement."

The report, published on 9 September, said lessons at the school were often disturbed by pupils in corridors, while some students moved around in groups to intimidate others. It also found truancy was "commonplace".

"Such is the culture in the school that damage to the school building has been a regular occurrence," inspectors said.

"Pupils report fighting at school, and staff report furniture being thrown. As a result, not all pupils are safe.

"Pupils and members of staff alike report not feeling safe."

While school leaders were aware of some of the issues around behaviour and pupil safety, they were "unaware of how pressured the situation has become", the report found.

Too much time was spent dealing with behavioural issues during the school day and students who did want to focus were "sometimes denied this opportunity by others", according to inspectors.

The report added that suspension rates were too high and did not have the desired effect of improving behaviour, while attendance rates were too low and had been for "several years".

A spokesperson for Beckfoot Trust pointed out that most pupils were "friendly, polite and want to do well" and it had "worked hard to address the behaviour of a significant minority".

Measures so far included reorganising senior leadership, strengthening systems around behaviour and bullying and providing additional safeguarding training to staff, the trust explained.

"We are encouraged by the progress already being made, but we know there is significant work still to do," the spokesperson added.

The trust added that it had formed a partnership with Delta Academies Trust, which was "strengthening the capacity available to the school, to create the environment we know students deserve".

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