A CINDERFORD secondary school been placed in special measures – but the new management team says it is not surprised by what is a verdict the school's previous performance.
Parents have been invited to an emergency meeting tonight (Wednesday) at 6.15pm to discuss the report by inspectors from Ofsted, and the way forward for Forest High School
The South Gloucestershire and Stroud (SGS) took over the school in May after concerns about its academic performance.
The academy trust's chief executive, Kevin Hamblin, said he was not surprised by what Ofsted had to say about what was then the Forest E-Act Academy.
In a letter to parents Mr Hamblin said that unless SGS had stepped in there had been a real possiblity of the school closing.
Mr Hamblin said: "We were approached by Sir David Carter (the south west's regional schools commissioner) in late 2014 to consider taking over the Forest E-Act Academy because of the concerns over its academic performance; these concerns have now been confirmed by Ofsted so in that sense there are no surprises."
The school was judged 'inadequate' across three of four areas including leadership and management, quality of teaching, and achievement of pupils. The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement.
Among the criticisms were 'teachers' expectations are too low' and 'in some subjects, teachers' marking doesn't help students to improve their work.' Also the achievement of boys is 'not improving fast enough' and the 'most-able students do not make the progress they should.'
Mr Hamblin said in a letter to parents, that the school had started making changes such as increasing the support and professional development to its teaching staff and introducing a broader curriculum for those in Year 10 choosing their GCSE options.
"The newly-renamed Forest High School is now in safe hands and will be turned around and out of special measures within two years, with improvements in performance expected within 12 months," he said.
Executive head Ms Yvonne Jones, who joined the school in May, added: "It is always disappointing to see a school fall below the standards that pupils and parents should expect. This is unacceptable and as head, I will ensure that the new start provided by the new sponsor is quickly translated into real change at the school.
"I can reassure current and future parents that the issues identified in the Ofsted report are historical and we have already taken positive steps to turn the school around. This school will take the comments in the report on board and will move mountains to improve the whole school performance."