Ark Kings Academy warned over derogatory language and homophobic bullying
Ofsted report finds pupils had no confidence in staff to support them
Ark Kings Academy has received a warning notice from the Department of Education over derogatory language and homophobic bullying.
A damning Ofsted report found that "bullying, derogatory language and homophobic behaviours are commonplace". In addition, the report also found pupils had "no confidence that staff will support them when they raise concerns", and "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pupils experience repeated discriminatory behaviour against them".
The school is part of the country’s leading academy chains and has now received a termination warning notice to close.
The DfE said the school's leaders had not recognised these issues so they could not take the "right steps" to prevent them.
In the school's Ofsted report, pupils said there were "high levels of bullying and prejudiced behaviour" which went unrecorded.
"Pupils feel that they have to tolerate the frequent sexual harassment towards them," the report said.
A new secondary principal appointed
The Ofsted report also noted that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities were also more likely to receive sanctions than their peers, with a "high and increasing" number of suspensions.
It judged the academy, which educates pupils aged three to 16, to be inadequate, and said school leaders did not make "adequate checks" on pupil absences, while "too many pupils are truant from lessons".
An Ark spokesperson said: "Whilst very disappointed with the inspection judgment, we fully accept the findings of the inspection report.
"We had identified many of the issues prior to the inspection and had taken action to begin to address these ahead of the inspection. That work has gathered pace since, and we are very confident the school will improve rapidly over the coming months.
"We have appointed an executive principal and a new secondary principal to lead this work and the school will have the support and resources of our large, successful network to ensure all pupils experience a consistently high-quality education."
A DfE spokesperson said: "We will be considering next steps for Ark Kings Academy in light of evidence submitted by the trust to demonstrate their capacity to secure rapid and sustained improvement.
"All decisions we take in these situations are with the best interests of pupils and school communities in mind, and we will be in close contact with the school and trust over the course of the process."