A damning report by Ofsted repeatedly condemns Ampleforth as “inadequate”. Ofsted finds: “There are serious failures, which mean that children and young people are not protected, or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.”
The education and boarding inspection summary finds the overall effectiveness of Ampleforth to be “indequate”. While quality of education, sixth form provision, personal development and behaviour and attitudes are described as “good”, leadership and management is condemned as “inadequate” and the report says the college does not meet the independent school standards. The report says the arrangements to safeguard pupils including the most vulnerable remain “ineffective”.
Ofsted details penetrative sex between pupils, class A drugs found in the school and concerns over safeguarding pupils from monks.
In response, Ampleforth, which charges nearly £38,000 a year, said it was “deeply disappointed” and accused Ofsted of “substantive factual inaccuracies”.
The social care inspection took place last November and the report was published this morning.
On all of the three main counts, overall experiences and progress of children and young people, how well children and young people are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers, the school was found to be inadequate.
Ofsted says that while there are some strengths in the boarding provision, pupils’ overall experiences and progress are inadequate. “This is because leaders and staff fail to take appropriate action to protect pupils from serious harm.”
More than a third of Ampleforth’s 456 pupils, from year seven to year 13, have special educational needs or disabilities, or both, with some “cared for by staff who do not know how to understand and respond to their behaviour”.
Arrangements to safeguard vulnerable pupils are not effective, the report continues. Some younger special needs pupils “were able to engage in penetrative sexual activity, observed by another pupil, because levels of staff supervision were not sufficient to protect them” the report says, stating that vulnerable pupils remain at risk.
One example given concerns the last day of school for 81 pupils in year 13. They left the boarding houses at night. One pupils was later admitted hospital due to alcohol intoxication. Another pupil was missing for one hour after everyone else was back, to be found unconscious and alone in an orchard. At the same time, class A drugs were found in the boarding house.
There was also a further incident involving excess drinking. “Assertions by staff that pupils are kept safe when drinking alcohol at the school cannot be relied upon,” the report says.ft
Ofsted also raises concerns at the lack of arrangements to safeguard pupils from monks who are a “concern”. Some younger pupils view monks as trusted adults, the report says.
Monks of concern would include those who have been accused of child sexual abuse, including any found guilty and any who are currently under investigation of child sexual abuse in the past and any who are under investigation currently.
The abbot no longer recognises a veto that the headteacher had that allowed him to insist on any monks of concern being removed from the abbey, the report says. As a result, the needs of monks who were previously required to leave the abbey, due to concerns about their behaviour towards children, could be “prioritised over the safety of pupils”.
When one staff member was sacked for gross misconduct, this was not reported to statutory agencies as required.
In a lengthy statement, Ampleforth College said: “We are deeply disappointed by their conclusions on safeguarding and consequently on leadership and management.”
The school added: “Ofsted's report contains substantive factual inaccuracies which undermine its conclusions about our safeguarding and leadership. Ampleforth College has been on a relentless drive to transform safeguarding policies, practices and culture.”
The inspection was the latest of several in the past few years. Two Ofsted surveys found 100 per cent of parents felt their child to be safe and happy in the school and a survey of students found 99.6 per cent felt safe. Ofsted has also acknowledged the progress made by the school.
The school said: “We have used and are continuing to use Ofsted’s procedures to demonstrate that the information relied upon to underpin their conclusions is factually inaccurate. Unfortunately, our steps to ensure accuracy have been received by Ofsted as a failure on our part to accept responsibility. It is with great reluctance and regret that we find ourselves compelled into this response but we cannot stand publicly behind a report containing ill-founded conclusions and we will continue to do everything in our power to demonstrate to Ofsted the need to revisit their assessment in the light of the evidence already in their possession.”
Specifically regarding the case of two students who engaged in “penetrative” sexual activity, the school cited a police report that states “no implication of penetration” and “no further action for police”.
In addition, Ofsted’s assertion that a student was missing for an hour and was unconscious in an orchard is simply incorrect, the school said. And while a trace of class A drugs was found in one student’s room, there was no evidence of drugs being consumed.
The school also said there are no monks currently subject to a police investigation or without a current enhanced DBS check in place living at Ampleforth Abbey. “It would not be possible for any monks found guilty of child sexual abuse to return to the abbey.”
Robin Dyer, head of Ampleforth said: “We are deeply disappointed that Ofsted should have produced a report based on a number of incorrect assumptions and factual inaccuracies regarding our safeguarding. We have made repeated attempts to correct the facts before the report was published. We do not lightly stand up to our regulator but in this instance the injustice cannot be allowed to stand. Ampleforth is a safe school. Our students know it and our parents and staff know it too.”
Loading ...
