'Rape culture': Colchester school head tells pupils of Ofsted 'agenda'

Headmaster John Russell spoke of his frustration with the inspection report during a school assembly

The headmaster of a top grammar school told pupils Ofsted had "an agenda" and was being "political" ahead of a critical inspection report.

John Russell of Colchester Royal Grammar School (CRGS) was recorded making the comments at an assembly.

The school had faced accusations of "toxic rape culture" from an ex-pupil.

In separate statements, the school said it regretted some of the language used and Ofsted said its report "speaks for itself".

Scarlett Mansfield said hundreds of current and former Colchester Royal Grammar School students had come forward with their testimonies

Last April, ex-pupil Scarlett Mansfield, who left CRGS in 2011, described her own experience of sexual assault by a fellow pupil and accused the school of presiding over a culture of sexism.

Her blog post led to hundreds of anonymous testimonies being submitted by current and former students.

In his speech, a recording of which has been obtained by the BBC, Mr Russell referred to "an attack on this particular school by a former pupil".

He had previously said he was "shocked and saddened" by the reports.

'Insulting and damaging'

Ofsted made an unannounced visit to the school last May following a safeguarding complaint, and raised concerns in a report published in July.

It concluded a "significant number of pupils feel uncomfortable or unsafe in school" and highlighted "insulting and damaging comments regarding their gender, appearance, race or sexual orientation".

"Leaders have not ensured that boys understand how to interact appropriately with girls," it said.

The report made no reference to claims of sexual assault.

The school was downgraded to a rating of "inadequate", having previously been rated "good" and "outstanding".

Sue Baldwin, regional schools commissioner for the East of England and North-East London, then issued a termination warning notice, telling the school its funding agreement was under threat.

Mr Russell addressed pupils in the days prior to the Ofsted report's publication.

'A bit daft'

Using a PowerPoint presentation, he accused Ofsted of predetermining the outcome of its inspection.

He told pupils: "I'd argue this is political and actually linked to their preconceptions when they came in."

He also linked its findings to a recently completed Ofsted inquiry into sexual abuse within schools and colleges, not including CRGS.

"They did come to this school with an agenda, which means a preconception," he added.

Mr Russell described certain aspects of the inspector's judgements as "bizarre", "strange" and "a bit daft".

He claimed Ofsted was being influenced by an online campaign called Everyone's Invited, which collected testimonies of sexual harassment and assault within schools.

Ms Mansfield said: "What he conveniently forgets is that this didn't start just because of what happened to me.

"I kick-started it, yes, but there were over 250 other anonymous current and former students who came forward with their own despicable experiences at the school, too.

"It's not one person, it's a systematic culture of abuse and he continues to overlook that."

The school's chair of governors said the comments were made out of frustration Ofsted had not "fully recognised" the school's strengths

CRGS is one of the top-performing grammar schools in the UK and was reported to have the highest number of Oxbridge offers.

According to 2019 data, it was ranked 27th of all schools and colleges in England for pupils achieving grades AAB or higher at A-Level.

In a statement, chair of governors Janet Perry said: "Our school has worked tirelessly to address the issues raised in our Ofsted inspection last year.

"We have not shied away from what the inspection team found, and we have acted upon all of their findings. Our focus has continually been on driving forward improvements and building on our many strengths and successes.

"We were, therefore, delighted to recently welcome Ofsted back to the school for a monitoring inspection. We look forward to sharing the outcome of this visit with our community as soon as we are able.

"That being said, in our communications at the time of the inspection we noted that we did not feel that all of the strengths of our school were fully recognised.

"It is with regret that this frustration was apparent in some of the language used in an assembly, and this is not reflective of the approach that we have all taken, including the headmaster, since the original inspection took place."

An Ofsted spokeswoman said: "Our last inspection report speaks for itself. We continue to monitor the school, in line with our policy on schools judged to be inadequate.

"I'm afraid we are unable to comment further."