Ofsted places secondary school in special measures

A secondary school has been placed in special measures after it was rated as inadequate by an education watchdog.

Ofsted found pupils at Magdalen College School in Brackley, Northamptonshire, had "failed to provide pupils with an acceptable standard of education".

The school was downgraded from a previous rating of good, with inspectors finding it failed to ensure "pupils' physical safety", as first reported by the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.

The school said it "acknowledged" the outcome of the inspection and said it would take the judgement "seriously" as it committed to "urgent" improvements through a "rapid action plan".

The inspection, which was carried out in April this year, found behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management and the quality of education at the school was all inadequate.

It said personal development and sixth-form provision were in need of improvement.

The report said that 1,348 pupils aged 11 to 18 attend the mixed gender school, of which 195 are enrolled in its sixth-form.

It found that "staff do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve or how they should behave", with pupil outcomes at the end of key stage four "too low".

Inspectors found that "too often" pupils did not engage well or meaningfully with learning activities, with levels of lateness or absence also not acceptable.

Although "most pupils feel safe in school", the report also said that pupils "frequently hear other pupils using discriminatory and derogatory language" but did not report it as "they feel the school will not do anything about it."

Some areas of the school were also deemed unsafe, with staff leaving pupils unsupervised in classrooms.

But the report found the school had "developed a clear programme to support pupils' broader development", including online safety and adopting healthy lifestyles. It also found staff had "higher expectations" of its sixth-form cohort.

In a statement, the school said: "We fully accept Ofsted's findings and understand the seriousness of the issues raised.

"While this is a disappointing outcome for our school community, it is also an opportunity for deep reflection and renewed focus.

"Our students deserve the very best, and we are absolutely committed to transforming the school and delivering the high-quality education every child deserves."

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