A top £10,000 a year school has been ordered to close following a damning report from Ofsted that flagged up serious fears of child safety.
The Rudolf Steiner School, in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, will close down after failing to make improvements since the education watchdog’s last visit in December, when it stopped any new pupils from coming aboard.
But now the school has been closed down for good, with inspectors saying data protection had been breached, pupils were able to wander off-site during lunch breaks and that there were no ‘professional boundaries’ between students and teachers, with some meeting up outside school.
The Rudolf Steiner School, in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, will close down after failing to make improvements since the education watchdog’s last visit in December
The school is currently appealing the decision and will continue to operate as normal until a decision on this has been made.
A statement on the school’s website reads: ‘On 26th July the School received notice from the Department for Education of the Secretary of State’s decision to de-register the School from the Register of Independent Schools, subject to appeal.
‘This notice was a result of the findings of Ofsted’s May 2017 Inspection.
‘After almost seventy years of providing a unique and inspiring education to countless children, the School is facing closure.
‘The School is appealing the deregistration and the community is now coming together in a positive and dedicated campaign to save our school.’
After it failed the report in December, Ofsted officials visited the school in May to see if it had managed to turn its fortunes around.
WHAT IS A STEINER SCHOOL?
Steiner schools, based on a system of education created by Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner, are renowned for encouraging creativity and imagination.
One of the best-known aspects of Steiner schooling is the philosophy that children under seven should not be taught to read or write.
Before that they express themselves through painting, modelling and music.
Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner created a system of education that his eponymous schools now use
The first school opened in 1919 in Stuttgart.
There are now 958 worldwide, 35 in the UK.
In 2005 a study commissioned by the Department for Education concluded that Steiner schools had much to teach mainstream schools even though “the consequences of successful Steiner education may take many years to unfold in a person’s life”.
However, lead inspector Philippa Darley and her team found that, in many respects, teachers were far behind the necessary standards, with some even casually meeting children outside class.
The report said: ‘Professional boundaries between staff, parents and pupils are not maintained… Parents arrange for pupils to see their teachers, and former teachers, off the school site. This culture is unchanged, despite known serious safeguarding failings.
The report also slammed the school for lying to parents about the severity of some of the issues, and for failing to keep data secure.
‘Leaders have underplayed and misrepresented the school’s safeguarding failings to parents,’ it said.
‘On more than one occasion, they have publicly stated that the failure is simply one of “record keeping”.
‘They have also stated that “no transgressions or wrongdoings were found to have taken place” and have implied that former parents who expressed concerns have misrepresented the position. These messages are not supported by the inspection evidence.
‘Leaders have failed to ensure that information relating to child protection is retained in line with the rules on retention of data promulgated by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
‘They have failed to take proper steps to save the email accounts of former staff, including those of one former leader for safeguarding.
‘Records of pupils going off-site at lunchtime continue to be poorly kept. It is not always clear if pupils have returned to school.
‘These standards remain unmet. Crucially, leaders do not base their decisions, at all times, on what is in the best interests of the child. This is the core principle of good safeguarding practice and a statutory requirement for all schools.’