THE biggest school academy group in England has been warned it could be stripped of a Forest school after the education watchdog put the primary in special measures.

A critical report following an inspection last December rated Offa’s Mead Academy Primary in Sedbury ‘inadequate’ in all six categories.

And the national and regional school commissioners have now told the Academies Enterprise Trust they are “minded to terminate” its involvement in the 174-pupil school unless they are satisfied plans are in place to “achieve rapid and sustained improvement.”

Having been rated ‘good’ at its previous inspection, this time Offa’s Mead picked up an ‘inadequate’ rating across the board – for effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; outcomes for pupils; and early years provision.

And in a stinging critcism of the AET, the Ofsted inspector slammed it for being ineffective in “supporting improvement at the school”.

The news that the AET has been threatened with Offa’s Mead being moved to another sponsor comes as several unions are threatening action against the trust amid claims of staff cuts, poor pay and outsourcing.

National Schools Commissioner, Dominic Herrington, and South West Regional Schools Commissioner, Lisa Mannall, have written to the AET demanding prompt action to remedy the failings of the school, where 40 per cent of the pupils are from the families of service personnel stationed at nearby Beachley Barracks.

The letter, sent last month, said: “As the National and Regional Schools Commissioners acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, we need to be satisfied that this academy can achieve rapid and sustained improvement.

“If we are not satisfied this can be achieved, we will consider issuing a Termination Warning Notice.”

It noted Ofsted’s ‘serious concern’ about the school, including a “legacy of weak teaching and assessment… over the last two years,” which has “led to significant gaps in pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills.”

The commissioners added: “The trust has not been effective in supporting improvement in the school.”

While trust leaders had recognised that Offa’s Mead was providing “an inadequate education” and taken measures to remedy staff shortages, their actions had “not been implemented quickly enough.”

They also highlighted “a poor culture of safeguarding across the school,” that leaves pupils feeling threatened by the behaviour of others, although parents had seen an improvement this term.

Calling for a response within 15 working days, the commissioners have demanded a copy of the trust’s post-inspection action plan and say they will require a termly update of improvement action and progesss, plus evidence of pupils’ improvement

The Ofsted report warned that “significant turmoil in staffing and a high turnover of staff” had held back school improvement.

Underachievement was “widespread”, said the inspector, despite some signs of improvement in maths.

An AET spokesperson told the Times Educational Supplement this week: “We’re disappointed by the ‘minded to terminate notice’ letter, which is procedural.

“Offa’s Mead has gone through a challenging few years, but it is clear that this has already started to change. This view is shared by our parents, who told Ofsted that they recognise the improvements that new leaders are making across the school.

“Everyone at AET is absolutely clear that we need to build on this progress, and we are clear on the significant work that must take place. We have changed the leadership of the school and increased the school support provided by AET.

“Our team has met with senior DfE officials and the national schools commissioner to agree a development plan, which is already being implemented and starting to have an impact.”

Last year AET was approved by the Government to take over more primary schools, but in November it was forced to give up two other primary academies.

Several teaching and leadership unions are in dispute with the AET, and last week referred talks to the conciliation service ACAS. The unions blame AET’s “unwillingness to provide essential financial information on its plans for its schools, outsourcing of school services, holding down of teacher pay progression, failure to tackle workload and cuts to frontline support staff”, as well as the trust’s refusal to release details of financial support received from the government.

AET said the trust hopes to resolve the issues as soon as possible and does “not recognise many of the comments that are made.”