A MUM is concerned for the safety of her son who attends a school in Erith which was rated inadequate by Ofsted.

The 38-year-old from Erith, who wishes to be kept anonymous, said concerns for her son grew after she found King Henry School was given Ofsted’s worst rating.  

The school, in Avenue Road, was given the rating after a two-day inspection in May 2022 where it was found that pupils were frequently missing from lessons.  

The mum has now claimed that her 14-year-old son feels unsafe “most of the time” due to the behaviour of other students.  

She said: “As a mum, you’re meant to feel safe when sending your child to school. 

“I don’t want to be at home and be worried if he’s ok or not.  

“This is a part of the school’s job, which is to keep students safe.” 

The report, published by Ofsted on July 20, said that “poor behaviour of pupils at break and lunchtimes makes other pupils feel unsafe.” 

The report explained: “Pupils are frequently missing from lessons for parts of the school day.  

“Leaders are not sure of the whereabouts of pupils who are in school but not in lessons and therefore unsupervised and unregistered during the school day.  

“This puts the safety of these pupils at risk." 

The mum said she was shocked when reading the report and she is now even more worried that her son is in this environment.

She said: “I was honestly so shocked when I read this report.  

“It’s not a nice thing to see that my son’s school was given this rating.  

“It’s raised a lot of questions in my head now if I should get him to move schools.”  

King Henry School is one of two constituent academies of Odyssey Trust for Education.  

Felicia Squire, chair of the board of trustees, previously told the News Shopper that Leigh Academies Trust has agreed to support the Erith school following the pandemic.  

Felicia explained: "We are delighted to confirm that Leigh Academies Trust has agreed to support King Henry School following a turbulent period in the aftermath of the pandemic.  

"Work is already underway to stabilise the academy, given the impact of covid.  

"Leigh Academies Trust has the capacity to provide significant and immediate support in all the areas identified by Ofsted as requiring improvement." 

A spokesperson for the Odyssey Trust said that parents and carers can raise issues using the established complaints procedure.

The Odyssey Trust spokesperson explained: “Parents and carers who have concerns may raise these with us or, if necessary, use our published complaints procedure.   

“In common with every state-funded school in England, we do not liaise with parents and carers through the media.” 

The education watchdog said in the report that leaders must ensure that all pupils attend lessons and are supervised and registered during the school day.  

The mum said she hopes that the school will take the “correct” procedures to improve its rating.  

She added: “I hope the school does do well and fix any issues that they have.  

“It is a good school, but something needs to be done urgently, so we as parents can also feel safe when sending our kids to the school.” 

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