Chaucer School: 'Fighting' and 'considerable disruption' on daily basis at Sheffield secondary school

Chaucer School, in Wordsworth Avenue, was rated ‘Requires Improvement’ in all areas in its last full inspection by the education watchdog in 2018.

However, things seemed on course when a check-up conducted in March 2020 felt the school’s leaders were “taking effective action” to pull them up to a ‘Good’ score.

But now, inspectors have revisited the school and come away unimpressed.

A new report, published September 26, reads: "...Leaders have been unable to bring about the necessary improvements needed…

"On a daily basis, pupils face considerable disruption to their learning.

"Many pupils and staff who responded to the inspection questionnaires said that poor behaviour is commonplace among pupils. Inspectors agree. Some pupils do not feel safe. Some pupils do not have confidence in staff to sort out issues such as bullying and inappropriate language effectively.”

As a result, Chaucer School is now rated as ‘Inadequate’ and has been dropped into special measures.

In a joint statement, the school’s leadership said they were “disappointed” with the report and it does not “take into account the full impact of pandemic”.

Other criticisms were laid at how children were not sufficiently taught about the world’s major religions, such that inspectors felt pupils were not “prepared for life in modern Britain”.

Pupils’ behaviour was “particularly poor”, and inspectors saw children “use physical contact or foul language and disrepect staff”.

Staff and pupil questionnaires said “fighting and boisterous behaviour [was] commonplace”, with teachers saying they felt senior leaders did not support them to tackle challenging behaviour.

Some positives were seen in how Chaucer School was working to improve fluency, broaden career prospects and how staff understand the needs of SEND pupils.

Further, areas of the curriculum were stronger than it had been, but inspectors still felt it needed to improve.

The report concluded with strong criticisms of the school’s leadership in headteacher Joanna Crewe and its board of trustees.

“Leaders, including those responsible for governance, have been unable to bring about the necessary improvements needed at the school,” the report reads.

“For too long, aspects of the school’s work such as pupils’ behaviour and the curriculum they study have not been reviewed with precision and urgency so that leaders know exactly where the problems lie.”

The school – part of Tapton School Academy Trust – has been given six months to improve.

In a joint statement, CEO David Dennis, director of cecondary education Scott Burnside and headteacher Joanna Crewe said: “We are disappointed by the outcome of the Chaucer School Ofsted inspection and do not feel that the report takes into account the full impact that the pandemic has had on our school and community.

"In a monitoring visit in March 2020 Ofsted found the school to be taking effective action in order for the school to become good. Covid-19 then caused two years of significant disruption to education, and hardship within the community.

"Our priority throughout this time has been the safety and welfare of everyone involved with our school and we are extremely proud of our students, staff and families for the resilience that they have shown.

“We will continue on our journey for excellence together.”