A school that charges parents up to £7,500 per year has been slammed by Ofsted for suspending pupils illegally. Children were being reprimanded for their 'poor behaviour' by having to work from home, the education watchdog found.
Inspectors rated the church school inadequate following a three-day inspection between January 31 and February 2. A recently released report revealed inspectors discovered multiple failings that meant it was unlikely to meet all the government’s standards for independent schools.
At one of the school’s two sites, kids didn't have their own toilets. Inspectors also criticised the school for failing to keep children safe, noting that safeguarding records were incomplete, MyLondon reports.
An Ofsted report published on at the end of last month relating to Ealing-registered Eden SDA School, states: “Leaders, including the proprietor and those responsible for governance, have used remote education as a consequence for pupils’ poor behaviour. This constitutes illegal use of exclusions and puts pupils at risk. Leaders must ensure that consequences are appropriately used and are recorded and reported accurately.”
“In the Beacon Centre premises, pupils do not have access to toilets which are for pupils’ sole use. This means that this independent school standard is not likely to be met.
“Pupils are not kept as safe as they should be. The safeguarding policy being used by the school is out of date and does not refer to current requirements. [...] Leaders have an incomplete picture of pupils’ previous education and any safeguarding concerns there may have been.”
Inspectors went on to criticise the school’s leaders for failing to plan the curriculum to help pupils build their understanding. They said children’s reading skills were held back by them not being taught phonics, which encourages pupils to link letters to common sounds.
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The report reads: “Although children learn to read from the start of their reception year, leaders do not ensure that teaching follows a rigorous and systematic approach. This means that children do not learn the phonics sounds that they need to know in order to read with accuracy and fluency.
“Support for older pupils who struggle with reading is variable. As a result, pupils who need additional help with reading do not develop reading confidence and fluency swiftly enough.”
The report was particularly critical of senior staff, saying their view of the school’s effectiveness was inaccurate and that they had failed to identify the “right priorities to address.” Inspectors concluded that the school’s leaders did not “demonstrate capacity for improvement.”
But inspectors praised students for their good behaviour. “Most pupils enjoy their time here,” the report noted. It said children’s behaviour was “typically good,” while observing that “learning in class is not interrupted.” Inspectors added that pupils were confident in sharing concerns with staff as they knew they would be dealt with quickly.
The school, which teaches kids from nursery age to sixth form, was rated good at the time of its last inspection in 2019. The Eden SDA School was contacted for comment, but failed to respond by the time of MyLondon's publication.
