Leeds schools visited by Ofsted after claims they 'off-rolled' pupils to boost results

Officials from the education watchdog have this week inspected Farnley Academy and Stephen Longfellow Academy, both part of the GORSE Academies Trust.

Parents have been asked to speak in confidence to inspectors about so-called 'off-rolling' and safeguarding at the schools.

Off-rolling is 'the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without a formal, permanent exclusion or by encouraging a parent to remove their child from the school roll, when the removal is primarily in the interests of the school rather than in the best interests of the pupil', according to the Government.

Leeds City Council asked the inspectorate to intervene after education publication Tes revealed that an internal document from the GORSE multi-academy trust (MAT) showed that staff considered how taking low-achieving 'anchor' pupils out of mainstream education and into alternative provision could improve Progress 8 scores.

Progress 8 is a measure of the progress children make between the end of primary school and the end of secondary school.

Jonathan Pryor, the council's executive member for education, said he believed the MAT had implemented the proposals made in the 'deeply disturbing' 2016 document.

He said: "All schools in Leeds have a duty of care for all children, and I am intensely concerned that he GORSE Academies Trust appear to have not only stated that they plan to falsely inflate their schools’ exam results with ‘no ethical considerations’ but that the suggestions made in this 2016 document appear to have been implemented in the subsequent three years."

A spokesperson for GORSE said the trust had 'no comment to make at this time', but GORSE chief executive Sir John Townsley has strongly denied allegations to Tes.

The Farnley Academy, in Chapel Lane, was rated as 'Outstanding' by Ofsted after a December 2013 visit.

The Stephen Longfellow Academy, which is the MAT's own alternative provision school, which opened in September 2017, has not yet been inspected.

Alternative provision involves teaching for pupils outside of mainstream education, who have behaviour issues or short or long-term illness.

Coun Pryor said: "Leeds City Council has previously raised serious concerns with Gorse around their off-rolling of pupils, particularly just before GCSE exams.

"I am troubled to see that their motives for this were not in the best interest of the children, but in the best interest of the MAT.

"I am particularly worried that the children affected may well be some of Leeds’ most vulnerable.

"This does not fit with Leeds’ ambition to be a Child Friendly City."

Deanne Ferguson, Labour's parliamentary candidate for Morely and Outwood, has been looking into issues - including off-rolling - raised by parents of children who attend GORSE schools such as The Morley Academy and Stephen Longfellow.

She said: "I was absolutely appalled and disgusted to hear GORSE academy trust had discussions with their staff regarding ‘off-rolling’.

"Parents across Morley and Outwood have raised their concerns for many months and thanks to those issues being raised with Leeds City Council, Ofsted are visiting some schools across the trust.

"I have been giving out helpline numbers to parents for the past 24 hours who have personal cases they would like to raise with the Ofsted inspector.

"This is both ethically and morally wrong and I call for immediate answers from the trust and will continue to work closely with parents and the local authority to support their cases."