Ofsted condemns Elland's The Brooksbank School over racism, sexism and violence

A school has been branded "not safe" by the education watchdog for allowing sexual harassment, violence, racism and bullying to continue unchecked.

Ofsted downgraded its rating for The Brooksbank School in Elland, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, from "good" to "inadequate" following an inspection in February.

In a damning report, the inspectors said: "Pupils are not safe in this school. Staff do not challenge unruly and dangerous behaviour that occurs during social times. Physical violence among some pupils is a regular occurrence.

"Many pupils have experienced bullying, harassment and/or discrimination."

The secondary academy school, at Victoria Road in Elland, has almost 1,800 pupils and was given a "good" rating when it was last inspected in 2016.

But the latest report reveals a catalogue of worrying failures with safeguarding and teaching.

It said: "Fighting is a common occurrence during social times. A number of pupils told inspectors they were afraid of being 'jumped' in school.

"There are many areas of the school where pupils don’t feel safe. Some staff who supervise pupils do not challenge poor behaviour. Many pupils do not trust staff to protect them from dangerous situations.

"This poor behaviour affects pupils in all year groups."

While new leaders had begun to take action to improve behaviour, inspectors said it had "not been sufficient to make the school a safe place".

They added: "Pupils are discriminated against because of their race and religion. Pupils frequently hear racist language.

"Leaders have done little to address this. Pupils are also targeted because of their sexual orientation. Pupils hear discriminatory language, such as homophobic language, every day. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other (LGBTQ+) pupils at the school do not feel safe.

"Discrimination by gender is also common. Some pupils judge others on how they look. Leaders have taken some steps to address these issues, but this has not gone far or fast enough."

Some of the most damning comments in the report are reserved for problems with sexual harassment, which inspectors describe as "distressingly common".

The report said: "Some staff described this as a 'culture' in the school. Many pupils regularly experience inappropriate comments.

"There have been a number of instances of inappropriate touching and assault. Some pupils also experience shocking threats of sexual violence. Leaders are not doing enough to protect pupils from these experiences or reduce the risk to pupils."

It called on leaders to act "immediately" to address the situation.

In a statement, the school said it had already taken action and was now "a safe and welcoming place for students and staff".   

The statement said: "Senior leaders have led the implementation of changes that have transformed how we support students. 

"We have systems and structures to ensure any negative behaviour is dealt with effectively."

The school had taken measures including splitting lunch and break times to allow supervision "to ensure that all students feel safe during social times".   

The statement added: "Alongside our academic work we have established a series of curriculum activities and changes to promote inclusions and respect.  This approach has been received well by students and staff and already we can see the impact of the pastoral programme now in place.

"We would like to acknowledge the support from our school community and local partners.  We are working together with others to ensure that the changes we have already made are securely embedded and that the school can move forward confidently."

Calderdale Council's director of children and young people's services, Julie Jenkins, said the report was "shocking" but said the council was" "confident that students at the school are now safe.

She added: "As soon as we became aware that there were safety concerns we acted immediately."

She said the regional schools commissioner would work with the school on a "rapid improvement plan" supported by the council.

Ms Jenkins said: "Working in partnership, together with the school, we have ensured significant improvements were made swiftly.

"We continue to be in regular contact with the school and the Department for Education and we can see that rapid and sustained progress is being made. Most importantly, we are assured that students are being safeguarded effectively."