Nottinghamshire special school 'shut children in chill-out room'

Ofsted inspectors visited Derrymount School in Arnold in May

Ofsted inspectors have criticised a special needs school for shutting pupils in a "chill-out" room against their will.

Derrymount School has been rated inadequate due to problems with behaviour, discipline, safeguarding and the quality of education.

Nottinghamshire County Council said Ofsted's findings were "disappointing".

The school, in Arnold, which has pupils aged from 3 to 19, said it was already tackling the issues raised by Ofsted.

Ofsted inspected the school over three days in May after it received a rating of "good" during its last inspection in 2016.

The inspectors' report highlights a number of problems with poor behaviour and the methods staff used to deal with it.

'Very distressing'

"Some pupils have poor experiences in school," the report said. "Sometimes pupils are detained in a secure 'chill out' room against their will.

"Leaders said this is to protect pupils from themselves and others. Some pupils said that being placed in this room is very distressing.

"Staff routinely lock classroom doors. Leaders say this is to protect those inside from other pupils who display challenging behaviours."

The report adds: "There is little evidence to demonstrate that the use of restraint and the chill-out room is always in the pupils' best interests or having a positive effect on pupils' behaviour."

The inspectors said they also heard older children using racist and misogynistic language, which went unchallenged.

Girls were found to be victims of sexist and derogatory language which meant they did "not always like being at school".

The quality of teaching was also described as "variable", with mathematics and the methods used to teach younger pupils to read highlighted as particular concerns.

'Disappointing outcome'

The leadership of the school was also criticised for failing to address issues with the curriculum, behaviour, teaching and measures to keep pupils safe.

Head teacher of Derrymount Cathy Clay, said: "We are extremely disappointed by the findings of the recent Ofsted report.

"I want to reassure our parents, carers and the wider school community that the safety and wellbeing of all pupils is of utmost importance. We take the findings extremely seriously and actions to improve standards in the school are already under way."

However, she added that pupils were never placed in a room alone without staff supervision.

Ms Clay also said they do tackle racist, sexist and misogynistic language, but not always immediately in case it escalates the situation.

Peter McConnochie, Service Director for Education, Learning and Inclusion at Nottinghamshire County Council, said the school was now set to join an academy trust following the Ofsted report.

He added: "This is a disappointing outcome - previously, Derrymount was rated as a Good school, and as a result did not require any additional school improvement support from the local authority."