Council spends over £200,000 on school branded "unsafe"

Homewood College, Brighton, was put into special measures after it was rated “inadequate” in its most recent Ofsted inspection.

Since then, the Brighton and Hove City Council has spent a total of £225,000 on the school.

The school, in Queensdown School Road, teaches pupils aged five to 19 who have social, emotional and mental health needs.

Inspectors from the education watchdog visited the school in December 2021.

The damning Ofsted report, published by lead inspector Aimee Floyd on February 4, branded the school “unsafe”.

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Safeguarding was a key concern in the Ofsted report, which said: “Regular incidents of unsafe behaviour and infrequent attendance mean that pupils are constantly at risk of harm.”

“Leaders cannot be sure of the safety or whereabouts of some pupils”, Ms Floyd said.

The largest portion of the council spending, totalling £135,000, has been spent on building and capital works at Homewood College since the inspection.

The council said this money was spent “to address safeguarding issues.”

In the report, inspectors found: "Pupils do not achieve well because the curriculum is not carefully planned.”

Homewood College, Brighton, was rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted in their report earlier this year (Image: Google)

A further £70,000 was allocated to the school for curriculum support and in recognition of the specific nature of the school’s remit, profile of pupil need and geographical location, the council said.

“Homewood College provides education for some of our most disadvantaged children and the council has prioritised support for this cohort of children and young people,” said Hannah Allbrooke, Green councillor and chairwoman of the children, young people and skills committee.

“The council has also directed additionally purchased school partnership adviser and officer time to support the school at an estimated total cost of £20,000."

The £225,000 sum does not account for extra support from teams across the council.

Cllr Allbroke said it was “not possible to quantify” to the cost of additional support that has been provided.

“Several teams from across the council have given significant extra support from within existing resources to Homewood College since it went into special measures. These include finance, human resources and access to education,” she said.