A TROUBLED free school is to be closed, after a damning Ofsted report found it to be failing in all areas.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced she was terminating funding for the Durham Free School (DFS) just hours after the schools watchdog slammed its leadership and management, teaching and pupil achievement and behaviour – rating all four areas as inadequate, the worst possible.

Perhaps most damningly, the Christian academy was slated for its students’ “discriminatory views” of people of other beliefs – with inspectors concluding DFS was “failing to prepare students for life in modern Britain”.

Ms Morgan said the findings were shocking, painting a picture of a school in disarray, and while closure was a “difficult decision”, there was no imminent prospect of improvement.

No closure date has been announced and the Department for Education would only say the school would shut “in due course”.

The parents of DFS’ 90-plus children aged 11 to 13 now face having to find other school provision, although Durham County Council says surplus places at good schools are available in the area.

Roberta Blackman-Woods, Durham City’s Labour MP who repeatedly called for DFS’ closure, said it should never have been allowed to open and it had been a huge waste of public money.

She said it had been extremely difficult to obtain information about DFS and raised serious questions about transparency.

The MP said she would be asking how much DFS had cost the taxpayer and whether its budget could be divided between other local schools.

“It should never have been allowed to go ahead in an area with surplus places. It was always going to struggle and it was done for purely ideological reasons,” she said.

DFS has been dogged by criticism and controversy since well before classes began in September 2013.

It was the pet project of families living south-east of Durham who struggled to get their children into the high-performing Durham Johnston School.

But there were always surplus school places available and, having failed to find a permanent site, it angered local opinion by opening temporarily in the former premises of Durham Gilesgate Sports College, in Gilesgate, Durham, which had been controversially closed amid budget cuts and falling rolls the previous July.

It became the focus of the national free school debate after it emerged its first term cost the taxpayer £900,000 – more than £25,000 per pupil.

Then-Education Secretary Michael Gove publicly backed the school but before Christmas it was rapped for its governance and financial arrangements and headteacher Peter Cantley was ousted – the school saying his contract had been terminated on performance grounds. He launched legal action, starting employment tribunal proceedings.

Tristram Hunt, the shadow education secretary, said the Government’s free school programme was damaging standards and Labour would deliver a tough new system of local oversight for all state schools.

Councillor Ossie Johnson, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said he was extremely disappointed at the Ofsted report and asked parents to call the council’s admissions team, on 03000-265-896.

Darlington and Stockton Times:

CLOSURE: Durham Free School is to close following a scathing Ofsted report.

 

Based on an inspection on November 26-27, Ofsted said DFS governors placed too much emphasis on religious credentials in recruiting key staff; its leaders’ expectations were not high enough; and pupil safeguarding was inadequate.

On teaching: assessment was inaccurate; marking was weak; and expectations were too low. On pupil achievement: standards were low and progress was inadequate. And on pupil behaviour: it led to “unsafe” situations, particularly on school buses; pupils called each other unpleasant names; there were “many instances” of bullying; exclusion rates were high; and attendance was low.

However, inspectors praised the school’s extracurricular activities and said the acting head, Julian Eisner, had stepped up and was developing a clearer vision for the school’s future.

DFS leaders insisted things would improve – as recently as this lunchtime (Monday, January 19) saying they were “determined to push forward” and make rapid progress towards becoming an outstanding school. 

 

Are you a parent of a student at Durham Free School? Call our reporters in Durham, on 0191-384-4600, to discuss your experiences.