Academy chain is criticised by Ofsted

Schools Minister Lord Nash has written to E-ACT after the education watchdog carried out a targeted series of inspections at 16 of the under-fire academy sponsor’s schools.

Purston E-Act Academy in Featherstone was one of those inspected recently. It was found to be inadequate and placed in special measures.

It is now set to get a new sponsor - Rodillian Academy Trust, which is based in Wakefield.

Ofsted said that ten of the 16 academies inspected had failed to improve since their previous inspection, and of these, six had gained a worse Ofsted grade.

In its letter to E-ACT boss David Moran, Ofsted warned that “an overwhelming proportion of pupils attending the E-ACT academies inspected were not receiving a good education.”

It added: “The evidence collected during these inspections indicates that intervention and support provided by E-ACT was ineffective overall. For those academies judged to require ‘special measures’, the Trust failed to take effective action to improve performance.”

In Lord Nash’s letter he said “We are extremely concerned about the number of your academies that are not yet ‘good’,” he wrote.

“As Ofsted’s letter makes clear, the majority of pupils attending an E-ACT academy are not receiving a good education. This is unacceptable.”

Lord Nash said that two E-ACT academies had already been handed pre-warning notices - the first step of formal intervention - and he was issuing a further three.

If improvements are not made, the Education Secretary Michael Gove may look to find new sponsors for more of the Trust’s academies, he added.

Ofsted’s findings come just weeks after it was revealed that E-ACT is to relinquish control of 10 of its academies amid continuing concerns about the chain’s under-performance.

This included both Leeds West and Leeds East Academies.

Leeds West is rated as a good school with outstanding leadership. Annette Hall is executive principal of both schools.

She was brought in from Leeds West to run Leeds East as well after it was given a critical Ofsted inspection which judged the school to be inadequate and placed it in the serious weaknesses category.

It has also been given a pre-warning notice by the Department for Education over standards.

However neither Leeds academy were visited as part of this Ofsted inspection.

In a statement, Mr Moran said the Ofsted inspections had confirmed that standards at some of the Trust’s academies were not acceptable.

“No-one should be in any doubt about E-ACT’s commitment to the task of improvement. That commitment is driven by E-ACT’s mission to break the link between poverty and under-achievement.”

He added that E-Act began making changes last May and is making “root and branch reforms” under new leadership.

“Crucially, going forward, we are focusing our resources and support where we are best placed to make a difference,” Mr Moran said

Ofsted said it had seen “poor quality teaching” in many of the 16 E-ACT academies inspected, with the work set not properly matched to pupils’ abilities.

It added that lessons were often not challenging enough for bright pupils and there was a “lack of urgency” in taking action to close the gap between disadvantaged youngsters and their classmates.

Inspectors were also told by senior staff at the academies that until the beginning of last September, E-ACT had deducted a proportion of pupil premium funding - money for the poorest students - from each academy.

“It is unclear how these deducted funds were being used to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils,” Ofsted said.

Ofsted’s national director of schools, Michael Cladingbowl said: “The outcomes of these inspections indicate that E-ACT has not been effective in improving its academies. While it is reassuring that some principals of individual academies report recent improvements to the Trust’s leadership, inspectors have yet to see this impacting on standards.

“Ofsted is determined to shine a light wherever we have concerns about the quality of education and, where necessary, we will continue to monitor the individual schools within the Trust to ensure progress is being made.”

It is the first time Ofsted has conducted a large-scale inspection of schools within the same academy chain.

Parkwood Academy in Sheffield was inspected during this and improved its rating with an overall judgement of good.