'Unresolved tensions' between staff and leadership are preventing ongoing improvement at a Liverpool school.
Ofsted said issues existing at Abbot’s Lea School in Woolton, require mediation and are hindering the school’s development.
A report detailing the inspectorate’s findings following a November 2021 visit deemed that the maintained school’s overall effectiveness requires improvement.
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In 2016, inspectors had found Abbot’s Lea to be in the outstanding category.
The school caters for more than 270 pupils living with autism and a range of associated communication, interaction, social, imagination, sensory and learning difficulties.
The report outlined how “a significant minority” of staff do not support the changes leaders have made to how the school operates, and while leaders and governors continue to work with staff to find a path forward, ongoing mediation is needed to resolve matters around the school’s policies and procedures.
This has created a divide among staff at and while inspectors found that these issues are a concern, they are not currently having a detrimental impact on pupils’ learning and welfare.
It was also highlighted that leaders at Abbot’s Lea “do not ensure that some pupils in key stage 4 and students in the sixth form work towards a full suite of recognised qualifications.”
Inspectors said that on occasions, “this hinders some pupils and students from achieving as highly as they could” and school leaders should continue to review qualifications that pupils can access to enable them to fulfil their potential and career aspirations.
Ofsted officials did find that while tensions exist, pupils attending Abbot’s Lea benefit from a well-balanced and ambitious curriculum.
All pupils said that they felt safe in the Beaconsfield Road school.
The school’s safeguarding arrangements were deemed effective and despite existing tensions, leaders routinely check whether issues are impacting negatively on colleagues’ wellbeing.
The report stated that leaders and governors at the Woolton school “invest considerably in supporting staff’s career development” and “provide effective support for teachers who are at the early stages of their career.”
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