School trust faces funding cut without improvements

A primary school where staff went on strike, claiming their allegations of violence by pupils were being ignored, has been told by the government it could have its funding cut if rapid improvements are not made.

Education watchdog Ofsted visited Ravensfield Primary School in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, in February and criticised teaching, behaviour and achievement at the school.

Inspectors said the school had many students "lacking the basic knowledge in writing and mathematics early on" which led to them "falling behind in later years".

The trust which runs the Clarendon Street site said it was committed "to delivering rapid improvements".

Lead inspector Jo Olsson gave a long list of required improvements to the Tameside school, marking them as either "needs attention" or "urgent" in every category looked at by the education watchdog, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The Department for Education (DfE) has now issued Changing Lives in Collaboration Trust (CLIC), which runs Ravensfield, with a notice warning its funding agreement may be terminated due to poor performance if things do not improve.

In the notice, DfE north-west England regional director Vicky Beer said: "I need to be satisfied that the trust has capacity to deliver rapid and sustainable improvement at the academy.

"If I am not satisfied that this can be achieved, I will consider whether to terminate the academy's funding agreement in order to transfer the academy to an alternative academy trust."

Beer said the DfE was "mindful of creating unnecessary pressures on school leaders and staff" and asked the trust to ensure support was available.

In the report, published in March, inspectors noted how low expectations of pupil behaviour had "become the norm", with challenging behaviour, poor attitudes to learning and a lack of desire to succeed.

Ravensfield was one of two primary schools run by CLIC that went on strike in January.

A new behaviour policy is at the early stages of tackling disruptive behaviour.

CLIC said the Termination Warning Notice was "a standard part of the process following an Ofsted judgement of this nature".

A spokesperson said: "We fully recognise the seriousness of Ofsted's findings and remain committed to delivering the rapid improvements pupils, staff and families deserve.

"As Ofsted recognised, leaders have a clear understanding of the areas requiring improvement and positive changes are already underway."

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