A SCHOOL has apologised after a damning Ofsted report.

Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA has been rated “inadequate” by the government’s education watchdog Ofsted in a critical report which is due to be published this week.

The report gave the inadequate rating – the lowest of four grades.

The charitable trust that sponsors the academy, Aldridge Education, said: “Many of the immediate recommendations for improvement made by Ofsted have already been addressed, particularly around safeguarding and culture.

“Prior to the inspection, the trust had identified that existing provision did not consistently meet the shared high standards.

“As a result, the trust’s chief academic officer had been deployed as interim principal in February to lead the urgent improvement work identified.”

Aldridge Education’s chief academic officer Stephanie Newman took temporary charge when the previous principal Bob Speight left the school in February.

A new principal, Jack Davies, is due to start next month, after the half-term holiday.

The Argus:

The chair of governors, Paul Lovegrove, is also new to the post. He is a senior executive at global education provider Navitas and a former boss at Study Group in Brighton.

Ms Newman said that she was committed to improving the school and said: “The inspection highlighted several serious shortcomings that are entirely unacceptable and we wholeheartedly apologise to students, parents and the BACA community for this.

“Since my appointment, prior to the inspection and the subsequent report, we have worked tirelessly to implement significant and immediate actions to address the failings.

“We still have a huge amount to do and some actions we are undertaking will take some time to embed.

“But we are confident that with our robust improvement plan and clear plans to bolster senior leadership with the incoming principal, we will successfully deliver against the ambitious targets set.”

Ofsted raised concerns about “bullying, racism, sexism and homophobia” as well as low-level disruption in lessons and ineffective safeguarding arrangements.