THE head teacher of a school in Ellesmere Port has formally challenged a damning report by the Government’s education watchdog.

Ellesmere Port Catholic High School has been placed in special measures following an Ofsted inspection in March that saw it graded as ‘inadequate’ – a huge drop from its ‘good’ rating in 2015.

But in a letter to parents, which the school shared with The Standard, head Caroline Vile claims inspectors had a “focused approach” to take action against the school “regardless of the information placed in front of them”.

She wrote: “Staff, Governors and I do not see our school in this report.”

Parents are also said to be shocked, with one mother claiming Ofsted inspectors had been “trying to put words into pupils’ mouths”.

The inspection findings, published on June 12, feature a list of serious concerns about the school including:

• A high proportion of disadvantaged pupils regularly being absent from school.

• Senior leaders and governors having an “overgenerous view of the quality of education at the school”.

• Governors failing to hold senior leaders to account.

• School leaders not using additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils effectively.

• Pupils making inadequate progress in mathematics.

• Some teachers having “low expectations of what pupils can achieve”.

• Students making “weak progress” in many subjects in the sixth form.

The report states: “Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing and governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvements at the school.”

Ellesmere Port Catholic High, based on Capenhurst Lane in Whitby, currently has 884 pupils aged 11 to 18 on its roll.

Being placed in special measures means it will be issued with an academy order by the Secretary of State for Education, which will lead to it becoming an academy and eventually part of a Diocesan Multi Academy Trust.

Challenging the report, Mrs Vile has joined forces with Bryn Heeley, head of nearby Whitby High School, which was downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted earlier this year.

She said the pair will be meeting with Andrew Cooke, Ofsted’s North West Regional Lead, and Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Justin Madders on June 24 to voice their “grave concerns” with both Ofsted visits and reports.

In her letter to parents, co-signed by chair of governors Joe Coucill, Mrs Vile added: “As Mr Heeley quoted in his letter to parents about the judgement placed on his school, it is also my opinion that this inspection had a focused approach to put our school into special measures regardless of the information placed in front of them.

“As always we will continue to put our students at the heart of everything we do and continue to strive for the best education for every student.”

She also cited the positive outcome of a Peer Review that saw 14 senior leaders across eight schools spend 280 hours assessing Ellesmere Port Catholic High between May 2018 and March 2019, led by an Ofsted-trained reviewer.

Comments made by other school leaders include:

“The school has lovely children and very talented and professional staff.”

“There is relentless support from staff for students to do their very best, teachers and other adults often go above and beyond for the pupils and their families.”

“Pupils are safe and feel safe at all times.”

In a message to the school, seen by this newspaper, one mother said: “Having moved my daughter to the Ellesmere Port Catholic High School from another school last March, I can honestly say that it was the best move we made and have been more than happy with the progress that she has made.

“Her sister joined her at the school this September and has also flourished academically. Challenging this outcome is absolutely the right thing to do as the result is ludicrous. Once again, I cannot believe their findings and know of other parents that feel this way too.”

She added: “My daughter was disgusted with the outcome. Said no way is that our school. She has read every page out loud to all of us! She said I hope school appealed it. So I told her they had. She said the inspectors were trying to put words in their mouths. Hope staff are ok.”

Mrs Vile said she would send out a joint letter following the meeting with Mr Madders. There will also be a parents' evening on June 20 at 6pm when the situation will be discussed.