A West Midlands secondary school has been handed the worst Ofsted report possible after pupils pelted inspectors with food and barged into them in the corridors.
Willenhall E-Act Academy was placed into special measures after it was rated “inadequate” in every single inspection category by the education watchdog.
“This is a coasting school,” the report read.
“Persistently poor behaviour at social times and in lessons leads to many pupils feeling unsafe and not learning well.”
Inspectors found that a third of pupils between Year 7 and Year 11 are regularly absent, while an astonishing 70% of teachers left the school between 2015 and 2016.
“Pupils do not take a pride in their school. Litter and graffiti were evident both inside and outside the building,” the report continued.
When Ofsted officers visited the 1,300-pupil-school in March, they were abused by students as they carried out their inspection.
“Inspectors had food thrown at them in the canteen and in a classroom,” the report stated.
“A small number of pupils were rude to them. Inspectors were jostled in corridors and witnessed staff being ignored or defied.
“A senior leader was spoken to disrespectfully by pupils and told inspectors this was the norm.”
Despite pointing out many of Willenhall’s failings, inspectors agreed that the academy “fully recognises the challenges faced by the school” and that it has begun to address “aspects of greatest concern”.
They also pointed out that vocational education for sixth form students is “strong”.
A spokesperson for E-ACT said the organisation was “disappointed” by Ofsted’s decision.
“However, under the strong leadership of Ms Kirsty Jones as the recently appointed headteacher, and with the close support that we provide across all aspects of the academy, we are confident that Willenhall Academy will continue to make rapid progress so that we can offer the best possible education to our students.
“At E-ACT we are proud of the fact that almost two thirds of our academies are rated at least Good by Ofsted, and we expect Willenhall to join this group by the time of their next Ofsted inspection.”