An independent review will take place after pupils at a special educational needs (SEN) school in Nottinghamshire were reportedly neglected due to inadequate staffing levels. The Harlow Academy, run by The Evolve Trust in Mansfield, was rated inadequate in January 2022 by Ofsted in all areas after the watchdog found that the basic care of children's needs were not being met.
The school, which had previously been known as the Fountaindale School, had been taken over by the trust in April 2021, and was formally closed on August 31, 2022. In addition to the academy, Evolve Trust also ran four other schools which have since been taken over by the Nexus Multi Academy Trust and Greenwood Academy Trust.
Warren Carratt, CEO of Nexus Multi Academy Trust said: "When we were asked by the Department for Education to help Harlow Academy safely re-open for pupils in January 2022 - after the unacceptable findings in the school’s Ofsted inspection - we recognised the urgent need to bring in credible, competent school leadership that could rebuild trust and confidence with families.
"We worked closely with the interim leadership of the Evolve Trust to affect rapid improvement, and the monitoring report of May 2022 reflects the huge strides made. The Harlow Academy formally closed on 31 August 2022 and its successor institution, Fountaindale School, opened on 1 September 2022 as part of Nexus MAT.
"We are delighted that the school has joined our Trust and we have maintained the traction made by our Executive Headteacher, Luci Windle, with the school continuing to go from strength to strength.” It has been reported by Schools Week that pupils at the academy, ranging in ages three to 18 years old, were going hungry due to there not being enough trained staff members to feed pupils, and similarly there were not enough trained members of staff to meet the toileting needs of the children.
It was also found that pupils who should have been going on daily walks were sometimes only going once a week, the trust bought alcohol for a staff party that was held prior to the Ofsted inspection and there was a large reserve of funds that could have assisted the staffing shortages. Laurence Jones, Service Director, Commissioning and Resources, in the Children and Family Services department of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We are very aware of how the situation at the former Harlow Academy has impacted on the children who were pupils there and their parents.
"The local authority commissioned an independent review of its practice to better understand if there was more that could have been done to identify the systemic problems at the school earlier and to respond more effectively. As a result of that review, we have made changes to the way our different teams and services share information about concerns in organisations so that we have better intelligence on which to make decisions."
He continued: “The local authority review revealed the complexity of responsibilities and accountabilities that span Academy Trusts, Ofsted, the Regional Schools Commissioners (now DfE Regional Directors) and health partners. We therefore asked the Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership to undertake a multiagency review, again with an independent author, and that has commenced with all relevant partners agreeing to be involved.
“The scope of that review will include any local improvements that can be made and will also look at the way that national policy enables or presents an obstacle to timely action in responding to concerns. We expect that review to report back in early summer and it will be shared with the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.”
The Department of Education has confirmed that the safety and wellbeing of young people in our schools is their highest priority, and so took the outcome of Ofsted’s inspection at Harlow Academy extremely seriously. The department brought in an experienced leadership team to ensure rapid progress on the most immediate and serious issues.
However the department is not able to comment on any ongoing investigations or confirm if investigations are taking place. In addition to the council, Nottinghamshire Healthcare also raised concerns about the academy.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare’s Executive Director of Community Health Services, Keeley Sheldon, said: “In Autumn 2021, our team raised some issues about the leadership culture and the safeguarding of children at Harlow Academy with the Local Authority and Ofsted.
“We have continued to work with the children at the school throughout and, following the school leadership changes, our occupational therapy and physiotherapy services are working collaboratively with the new team and children continue to be seen in the most appropriate setting, whether that is home, school or a clinic. We are also currently contributing to the multi-agency review led by the Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership.”
Since the academy's successor, and now predecessor, institution opened it has been recognised for its work at the national The Youth Sport Trust Annual Awards.
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