King Edward VII: Sheffield school makes plea over academy conversion after 'inadequate' Ofsted report

But King Edward VII School, which has sites in Broomhill and Crosspool, has told parents it hopes the Department for Education and Sheffield Council will work in partnership with school leaders and the governing board ‘in the best interests of the school’ during this process.

A letter to parents jointly signed by headteacher Linda Gooden and Peter Dickson, chair of the governing board, states that the ‘inadequate’ rating for overall effectiveness in the Ofsted report published today, Monday, January 23, ‘means that King Edward VII School will be forced to convert to an academy and join a multi academy trust (MAT) by the Department for Education (DfE)’.

The letter continues: “The Interim Regional Director, on behalf of the DfE, will identify sponsors for the school and will work with the local authority on this. School leaders and the governing board will not be part of this decision making process. It is hoped that the DfE and local authority will work in partnership with school leaders and the governing board in the best interests of the school. This request has been made to the local authority.”

Ofsted inspectors, who visited the school in September 2022, voiced concerns in their report about safeguarding there, which they said meant children ‘may be at risk of harm’. They also stated that although ‘school records show that bullying is not frequent’, a ‘significant minority’ of pupils felt they did not have an adult to speak to and some pupils ‘would not pass on concerns about bullying’.

The school’s latest letter to parents states how it had contested a ‘number’ of the judgements made by Ofsted but says the education watchdog refused to reconsider those judgements or re-inspect the school. The letter describes how Ofsted’s concerns about safeguarding at the school meant the leadership and management was automatically rated as ‘inadequate’, meaning the school as a whole was deemed ‘inadequate’ despite being assessed as ‘good’ in three of the five criteria for which it was rated and receiving praise from inspectors about ‘many important aspects’.

The school said inspectors concerns around safeguarding primarily involved students being allowed to leave the upper school site at lunchtime. It said this was a decision for individual schools, it was ‘common practice’ in many schools, and it was ‘well recognised that students should be enabled to take age-appropriate and reasonable risks as part of their growth and development’.

The letter states that school leaders, governors and staff are all ‘profoundly disappointed’ with the overall rating and were ‘determined to continue to keep our children and young people safe at school and to address the areas relating to this judgement’. It adds that the school, which was previously rated ‘good’, has ‘never been complacent’.

Since the visit by Ofsted, the school said it had drawn up an action plan to address the areas for improvement which were identified. This plan, it said, included seeking ‘informed consent’ from all parents and carers of year 10 and 11 students for their children to leave the upper school site at lunchtime, completing a risk assessment and recruiting extra staff to monitor students leaving and returning.

The letter concludes by saying the school is ‘proud’ of its independent status and being the last remaining local authority-maintained secondary school in Sheffield but that the Ofsted report means it is ‘on the cusp of a significant, defining moment in the school’s history which dates back to 1604 and the Sheffield Royal Grammar School’.

The Star has contacted the school, the Department for Education and Sheffield Council to ask what happens next. All three have yet to respond.