Ofsted has branded the school as ‘inadequate’ in all areas in an utterly damning report
LIPA Primary and High School
A Liverpool school branded “one of the most dysfunctional” teachers have ever worked in has been plunged into special measures after a damning emergency Ofsted report, which has rated it as ‘inadequate’ in all areas. The ECHO has reported regularly on the crisis engulfing LIPA School in Liverpool city centre, which was visited by inspectors last month.
The city centre school, which includes a primary and high school offering, shares a name with with the performing arts academy founded by Beatle Sir Paul McCartney – but is run by a separate multi-academy trust that also includes a sixth form college. Staff at the school, who have been involved in recent strike action, have told the ECHO about the chaotic, dysfunctional and at times dangerous situation within the school, in which pupil behaviour is out of control and much of the senior leadership team is absent and staff morale is said to be at an all time low.
Those concerns have now been recognised by Ofsted inspectors, who carried out an emergency, no-notice inspection on June 5 and 6 and have now placed the establishment into special measures, rating it as inadequate – the lowest rating possible – in every area that it was judged in.
LIPA School was downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ in its last inspection a year ago, but things have got much worse at the school. Ofsted make it clear that since that last inspection, the quality of education pupils receive has declined and criticise the trust which runs it for not holding the school to account for this decline in standards.
One of the most concerning aspects of the report concerns pupil safety, behaviour and safeguarding. The report states: “While some pupils feel happy at school, others expressed that they do not feel safe. They feel scared or threatened by the poor behaviour of other pupils.”
Inspectors said sanctions for poor behaviour are not enforced and therefore behaviour does not improve. Attendance procedures do not ensure that pupils are safe when they are absent from school.
Inspectors found that pupils at the school “persistently use derogatory and discriminatory language towards each other.” They said this this makes other pupils feel anxious and unsafe. Damningly, Ofsted said pupils at LIPA School “are not prepared well for life in modern Britain.”
In our previous special report, we explained that many of the senior leadership team have been absent from the school for some time, including headteacher Andrew Raven, who has been largely off work for most of the year.
Ofsted said the LIPA trust has been too slow to respond to concerns about leadership and staffing capacity within the school, adding: “As a result, leadership is stretched too thinly, leaving gaps in oversight and decision-making.
“This means that critical aspects of the school’s operations, including statutory responsibilities around safeguarding and the quality of education that pupils receive, have been compromised.”
Staff, whose strike action has now concluded, previously told the ECHO that morale is at an all time low. The report adds: “Staff feel that their workload is becoming unmanageable due to the instability in leadership. Morale is low.”
Ofsted also explain how the pupil behaviour issues are affecting staff, adding: “The systems to promote positive behaviour are ineffective. Many staff do not feel supported to manage pupils’ challenging behaviour. Lessons in the secondary school are disrupted by pupils who are not engaged in learning activities.”
Teachers from LIPA Primary and High School on strike back in May(Image: Wesley Holmes)
It adds: “While there have been some recent improvements in overall attendance levels, pupil absence and persistent absence rates remain high, particularly in the secondary-age phase. Many pupils miss a considerable amount of time away from school.”
The pupils themselves told Ofsted they feel unsettled and part of this is down to the high proportion of supply or temporary staff. They are also frustrated that their learning has been adversely affected by the recent industrial action.
There are deep concerns about safeguarding at LIPA School, with inspectors finding the arrangements for keeping kids safe to be not effective. The report states: “The school does not make appropriate checks when pupils are absent from school. Its actions to follow up pupils’ absence are too slow. This means that pupils, and particularly those who are vulnerable, are at risk of harm.”
The report adds: “The lack of leadership capacity, coupled with considerable staff turbulence, means that the school does not have sufficient supervision of some areas of the school premises. In addition, it does not maintain appropriate oversight of the play equipment that is used by children in the early years. This has the potential to cause pupils harm.”
As well as this, inspectors found that staff at the school “lack the expertise and knowledge to support pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.”
The inspection carried out in June was what is known as a no-notice inspection, which are only carried out by Ofsted where there are concerns about ‘rapidly declining standards’, safeguarding, leadership and governance issues or the breadth and balance of the curriculum.
The report says the inspection took place after a number of complaints were made to the education watchdog which raised serious concerns. In the opinion of the lead inspector, the school now requires “special measures” because “It is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.”
In a response to the report, Charles Bartholomew, who was recently appointed as the new CEO of LIPA Multi-Academy Trust, said: “This is a very disappointing judgement from Ofsted, and we fully accept and understand the seriousness of the issues raised in the report. This is why we have taken immediate action to make major improvements across the LIPA School since June.
“We have already recruited a dedicated assistant head for behaviour, have brought in external senior leadership support, appointed five new primary teachers, and are actively recruiting for several roles including a new permanent headteacher to take the school forward into a new and positive chapter.
“These new appointments will add to our current leadership team at LIPA School, who are passionate, hardworking and committed to our transformation, and we are grateful for their efforts over the recent challenging months.
“We are carrying out an external safeguarding review with School Improvement Liverpool and we are also reviewing our curriculum and facilities to make further improvements to our school experience for pupils and staff.”