| SPOTLIGHT |
A primary school has said it is in the “initial stages” of bringing legal proceedings against Ofsted over the regulator’s decision to give it an “inadequate” overall rating.
In a letter to parents and carers, Queen Emma Primary School in Cambridge said that it “totally refutes” the findings of the Ofsted report, which concluded that the school’s safeguarding arrangements were “ineffective”.
The letter said: “That finding means that Leadership and Management of the school must be rated Inadequate, regardless of how good it might be in other areas.”
The school revealed that it has submitted a formal complaint to Ofsted, “outlining the evidence which contradicts their findings”. However, it added that key aspects of the complaint have either not been upheld or responded to by the regulator.
In response to this, the school is in the initial stages of bringing legal proceedings against Ofsted, “challenging their decision by way of a Judicial Review”, it revealed.
The letter to parents and carers said: “The Court has the power to order an Ofsted report is quashed and taken down from Ofsted’s website; which, subject to ongoing legal advice, is what we would be asking the Court to do.”
The school clarified that its contention is that the inspection team “repeatedly breached Ofsted’s own procedures” and “acted unlawfully in a number of respects”.
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We completely refute these allegations and firmly stand by our inspection and published report. Ensuring that children are safe in school is one of the most important elements of our inspections. We only give an inadequate judgement to a school for safeguarding reasons if we have serious cause for concern.”
This comes after a recent national debate around Ofsted inspections, following the death of Ruth Perry, a headteacher who took her own life while waiting for a report that downgraded her school to "inadequate".
Last month, school leaders’ union NAHT wrote to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector to demand a suspension of Ofsted inspections while steps are taken to address the risk to the mental health of school staff and enable suicide risk prevention to be put in place.
Lottie Winson
