Small Heath School Put Under Special Measures
A Birmingham school which was once rated as outstanding during the recent “Trojan Horse” affair is to be put into special measures by Ofsted.
Inner-city Small Heath School was has been labelled “inadequate”, after Ofsted noted on staff morale being “very low” along with escalating tensions that were damaging its progress.
Despite this, inspectors went on to say that the school has a “broad and rich” curriculum and have made robust moves to appoint staff.
Birmingham city council issued a statement saying “it was working to secure leadership”.
The allegations came to light after reports circulated of leaked documents that clearly showed that Islamic extremists had been targeting Birmingham schools trying to oust head teachers and other members of staff through a “dirty trick campaign.”
Dubbed the ‘Trojan Horse’, an investigation by Ofsted said that the quality of the school’s management was “outstanding” under the previous long-serving Headteacher, Peter Slough,
However, after a recent investigation, it said that the current headteacher, Shanaz Khan, had “not provided a clear vision or inspiration for improvement”.
Ms Khan has been in post since September following Mr Slough’s retirement and “since the end of the last academic year, three other senior leaders have left.”
The report said, “The current tensions between the school’s new senior leaders, including the headteacher, and longer-established senior and middle leaders, are damaging the school’s progress and capacity to improve.”
‘Students achievements has declined substantially since an inspection in May 2013.” Ofsted added that the council’s checking “confirmed that the school’s systems for appointing staff were thorough, robust, and met appropriate standards”.
It said that the curriculum allowed students to “develop strong values of mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths, beliefs, and characteristics”.
A council spokesperson said: “We are working with the school and governors to secure leadership at the school and make the rapid improvements needed, including applying to establish an interim executive board.”
Small Heath School is described by Ofsted as being much larger than the average-sized secondary school with almost all students are from minority ethnic backgrounds, with most students of Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage.
