Ofsted

Posted at 13:43 6 Feb

Children in care at risk, report finds

Hull City Council is replacing its head of children's services after Ofsted found children "at risk".

Posted at 1:36 4 Feb

Children abused in the home 'unseen and unheard'

Judith Burns

BBC News

Disbelief and denial about family sex abuse help perpetrators evade justice, a report says.

Posted at 0:08 4 Feb

'Vulnerable' pupils left at risk by academy trust

SchoolsCompany Trust, which ran centres for special needs pupils, is having its finances investigated.

Posted at 16:08 3 Feb

'Drastic change' call over special needs education

Fiona Castle, Sally Kent, Jen Smith, Sara Stocks

Parents of children with special educational needs meet with Bristol City Council bosses.

Posted at 10:03 24 Jan

Council's children's services 'inadequate'

There are "widespread failures" and children are left at risk of harm for too long, inspectors find.

Posted at 11:28 23 Jan

School told not to hire newly qualified teachers

Ofsted has told Gloucester Academy it is not doing enough to get out of special measures.

Posted at 10:35 22 Jan

Bail extension for nursery sex assault suspect

The nursery in Torquay has now closed after the owners resigned their Ofsted registration this month.

Posted at 17:23 21 Jan

North East fixed exclusion rates more than twice the national average

Fixed period exclusion rates in state secondary schools in the North East are more than twice the national average, figures show.

The Ofsted Education, Children’s Services and Skills Annual Report 2018-19 has found that the fixed period exclusions rate in the North East is 21.4% compared with the national average of 10.1%.

In 2017-18 in Hartlepool there were 5,483 secondary school pupils and 4,799 fixed period exclusions – a rate per pupil of 87.5%.

Lee Ouston, a senior Oftsed inspector, said: “It’s the right of every head teacher to use the methods at their disposal such as fixed period exclusions as a solution to some of the poor behaviour they see, if it is proportionate.

“It’s something we do want to challenge leaders about because we realise that we have some of the highest proportions of fixed period exclusions in the country.

“When we’re on inspection, we certainly shine a spotlight on those figures or systems that leaders use and we then report if we find those processes, that are legitimate to use, have been used in a disproportionate way."

He added that Ofsted is currently working with local authorities, academy trusts and local councillors to tackle the issue “from all angles.”

The report stated that 58% of secondary schools in the North East were rated good or outstanding, with Stockton (77%) and Middlesbrough (71%) having the highest numbers and Redcar and Cleveland (30%) the lowest.

Mr Ousten added: “Schools generally are doing extremely well within our region.

“If schools generally do what is in the best interests of their pupils, then they have nothing to worry about in terms of performance and indeed Ofsted inspections.”