Last updated 16:06, Wednesday, 01 October 2008

THE head of the West Cumbria Learning Centre, which educates some of the area’s most challenging children has quit as details of series failings emerged in a damning Ofsted report.

The centre, a pupil referral unit at Distington, that caters for 48 children, has been placed in special measures after failing an Ofsted inspection.

It got the lowest ranking possible – inadequate – in every area the inspection covered from achievement and standards to leadership.

A serious warning was issued in May last year calling on urgent improvements to be made at the centre.

But Ofsted has found that priorities set out in the Notice to Improve have not been tackled with ‘sufficient urgency’ and that in some areas the situation has got worse.

Cumbria County Council said that headteacher John Graham has ‘decided to relinquish his role’ and an executive head had been appointed to lead changes.

The local authority was itself criticised by the inspectors for breaching statutory requirements surrounding the curriculum policy in place, particularly for those children with special educational needs.

None of the centre’s six year 11 pupils this summer left with a single qualification and bad behaviour by some pupils was found to be putting the safety of others at risk.

Lead inspector Alastair Younger wrote in his report: “Poor attendance is a major factor in pupils’ lack of progress. It means that many make nowhere near the progress of which they are capable.”

Problem areas highlighted by the Ofsted team, which visited in June, included:

The growing number of absences - attendance over the last year was marginally over 50 per cent. Poor leadership, teaching, and monitoring. Bad behaviour - 75 exclusions in the past year and 68 incidents where physical intervention was needed. The report also says: ‘on too many occasions, the irrational actions of pupils impact on the safety of themselves and others. The curriculum is inadequate despite the timetable providing a balanced range of subjects. The failings in the curriculum to provide the statutory entitlement for those who have special educational needs. Significant staffing issues - competency and long-term sickness, that have compounded problems at the centre, which inspector Alastair Younger states “Has had a turbulent year”. Mr Younger, following all the inspections, wrote to pupils explaining the situation and called on them to improve their behaviour.

“At times, some of you are not helping when your behaviour is unpleasant. There is no need for it,” he wrote.

“I was much more impressed by those of you who made a lot of effort to behave well when some of you let the side down during my visit.

“The message to you is to turn up, try to improve your behaviour and let it be known what you think would improve life in the unit.”

More positively, Mr Younger’s report highlights good work with 11-year-olds in Key Stage Two and boys’ achievements in cross-country running and football.

He was also pleased with the changes to the management committee, the impact of which have yet to be seen.

An action plan has been drawn up for improvements.

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: “We have appointed an executive head teacher, who is working closely with the acting centre manager to improve the situation.

“The Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) has already implemented a centre improvement plan to address the issues identified by Ofsted as needing to improve.

“There has also been a local authority statement of support which details how different teams within children’s services will be aiding the PRU.

“The centre staff and the local authority are working in partnership to overcome the difficulties and are confident that the actions will be implemented effectively and improvement will take place within the agreed timescale.”

The council added that it delegates responsibility to individual pupil referral units for curriculum policies.

The WCLC is a small pupil referral unit covering a large geographical area.

Most of its pupils, largely boys, have been permanently excluded from other schools. Others are pupils at mainstream schools but are at risk of exclusion.