School placed in special measures after inspection

A Lincolnshire secondary school has been placed in special measures after "failing to provide an acceptable standard of education", according to government inspectors.

Ofsted said in a report on De Aston School in Market Rasen that "the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school".

Inspectors said that safeguarding of students and sixth-form education met standards, but other areas required improvements.

A spokesperson said the school "accept the findings of this inspection" and it had brought in measures to try and make improvements.

The inspection in June raised concerns over students attendance and behaviour, with the report saying that "attendance over the last three years has been below the national average and shows little or no sign of sustained improvement over time.

"Over half of all pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are persistently absent."

On behaviour, the report states that a new policy has been implemented and classrooms are "typically calm" and pupils said that behaviour had improved.

However, it adds that "the number of pupils regularly removed from lessons and accessing the school's 'reset room' is high.

"The suspension rate at the school is significantly above national averages."

Overall, inspectors found that "pupils who attend school are happy and feel safe. They benefit from positive relationships with staff".

Ofsted said the school's leaders needed to develop strategies to improve attendance and behaviour as well as ensuring the "evaluation of the quality of teaching is accurate and identifies specific areas that need improvement".

In a statement, the school said it had "increased staffing to both our behaviour and attendance teams, introduced new policies in both areas, and added further staff to our SEND team".

"We welcome the monitoring and support that comes with this judgement. Our focus is on the pupils in front of us and on demonstrating improvement that families can see," the spokesperson added.

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