A NEW school in the district has been told to improve after Ofsted carried out an emergency inspection.
Brookthorpe Hall School - which is located along Stroud Road towards Gloucester - has been informed it does not meet all of the independent school standards required by Ofsted.
The independent SEND school - which officially opened in March last year - teaches 43 pupils between the ages of seven to 16.
The inspection was carried out on January 23 by lead inspector Sarah Favager-Dalton with no notice.
It is understood the inspection was carried out by the education watchdog at the request of the Department for Education in response to “complaints”.
It comes after the school was previously rated as good in September last year.
The new inspection found the school was not meeting guidelines in two categories out of four - welfare, health and safety of pupils and quality of leadership and management.
The report states that “staff do not feel supported by leaders in managing the challenging behaviour of pupils.”
According to the report, staff shortages and high staff turnover mean that pupils are not always supervised by those with “appropriate training” and “a strong understanding of their needs.”
Ms Favager-Dalton also states that “staff do not feel supported by leaders in managing the challenging behaviour of pupils.”
The inspection states although the school is continuing to recruit staff, “some staff do not have the expertise that they need to provide the requisite support.”
“When new staff start at the school, they do not always receive appropriate training to manage pupils’ behaviour,” the report reads.
“This has led many existing staff to feel that they cannot effectively and safely intervene with pupils when they need to.”
The report also states that due to the high turnover of staff, it means the therapeutic team is “not able to work effectively with staff to ensure a consistent approach with pupils.”
However, despite this the school did meet two of Ofsted’s other categories - accommodation and quality of education.
In addition, the inspection praised the school for its curriculum which is well structured and adapted to take account of different interests to support pupils’ motivation to learn.
The report also states there is a “diligent approach” to following health and safety laws as well as its risk assessment policy.
According to its website, the school is owned by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd and operated by P.Bloom Ltd.
A school spokesperson said in a statement that since the Ofsted inspection a new headteacher has been appointed.
They said: “The education and outcomes of those accessing Brookthorpe School is of paramount importance.
“Jonathan Bell has been appointed as Executive Headteacher - he has over sixteen years’ experience as a senior leader and seven as a headteacher - knows the school well and is leading from the front with some additional appointments to address the shortfalls.
“The school’s Ofsted rating remains good for the quality of education provided and premises and accommodation.”
You can read the full inspection here - tinyurl.com/uc99zjn3
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