Academy trust could lose school after poor report

Ofsted inspectors raised numerous concerns after a visit to St Giles Academy, Lincoln, in April

An academy trust could lose its contract to run a Lincoln primary school after inspectors criticised it for poor educational standards.

The Department for Education said Harbour Learning Trust needed to deliver "rapid and sustainable improvement" at the St Giles Academy or the management would be replaced.

An Ofsted inspection in April said the curriculum at the school was "poorly-designed" and pupils did not acquire the knowledge and skills they needed.

The Harbour Learning Trust admitted the school had not been good enough and said work was already under way to improve it.

In a critical report released in June, inspectors found numerous issues during their visit to the school, including:

• The school's curriculum had little structure in most subjects

• Pupils had gaps in their learning and struggled to recall important curriculum content securely

• The school's provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities was weak

• The school was not taking effective steps to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils

• The school's expectations of pupils' behaviour are too low.

Carol Gray, the regional director for the Department for Education, wrote a letter to the trust and said she expected major improvements before the start of the next academic year.

She wrote: "If I am not satisfied that this can be achieved, I will consider whether to terminate the funding agreement in order to transfer the academy to an alternative academy trust."

Ms Gray has asked for a response by 11 September.

'Community effort'

Richard Briggs, chief executive officer at Harbour Learning Trust, said that changes had already taken place and St Giles "feels a very different place".

He said: "We've brought in one of our best headteachers from an outstanding school in the trust.

"We've strengthened the leadership by bringing in new senior leaders and have brought in an additional three members of teaching staff."

Mr Briggs also claimed the changes were bearing fruit with improved pupil scores for phonics.

The school broke up for the summer holidays last week, and Mr Briggs said he was confident staff, pupils and parents would notice a difference when they returned in September.

"It's not something we can just do on our own, we have to have the support of our parents, we have to have our children on board.

"It really will be a community effort," he concluded.

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