London Enterprise Academy in Whitechapel
(Picture: Google Maps)The headteacher of a London school that was visited by Ofsted inspectors 10 times in five years has accused the regulator of unfairly targeting it.
The London Enterprise Academy in Tower Hamlets, which was classed as failing by Ofsted in 2019, has now been upgraded and taken out of ‘special measures.’
But headteacher Ashid Ali said the school should have been given a higher rating sooner, and said it was rated too harshly in order to pressure it into joining a multi academy trust.
He said: “I don’t know any other school that has had this number of visits by inspectors in this length of time. I think we are the most inspected school in the country.
“The number of inspections we have had, despite all the positive feedback and despite Covid, means Ofsted has treated us unfairly and differently. I think this is because of the government’s agenda to force schools to join multi academy trusts.”
London Enterprise Academy is now rated as “Requires Improvement”, the third lowest rating out of four. But behaviour and attitudes and personal development at the school were rated as “good.”
The school faced challenges during Covid because it is housed in a former office block in Tower Hamlets and none of the windows open, making it hard to provide ventilation.
The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities at the school is above average, as is the number of pupils who speak English as an additional language.
It opened in 2017 and has been visited on 10 different occasions from inspectors since then.
It was put into special measures in 2019 and then received five “monitoring visits” from Ofsted inspectors. A school’s Ofsted rating can only be changed after a full inspection.
Mr Ali, who has been given the freedom of the City of London for services to education, said he asked Ofsted to carry out a full inspection a number of times because he was confident it should not be classed as failing, but it was only in July 2022 that this was carried out.
He said: “Despite being in and out of lockdown, we have had five monitoring visits and one full inspection since 2020. If they find something wrong headteachers can lose their jobs. We have lost staff because they don’t want to be under inspection every three or four months, they want to be left alone to do the job that they are paid to do.”
He added: “All these inspections have affected our ability to create the type of school we want. “It has made our life difficult, made it harder to recruit high calibre staff and affected student numbers.
“But despite all these inspections and all the negativity that comes with that, the school is still very popular in the community.”
Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman wrote to the school saying: “It is good to know that because of improvements to the curriculum and the way subjects are taught many pupils achieve well academically. However, you will want to make sure that learning is consistently strong for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.”
A spokeswoman for Ofsted said it does not comment on individual schools.
