A SCHOOL in Dursley that was named as one of only 63 in the country rated as inadequate by Ofsted, has begun to make progress.

Peak Academy, a special school in Dursley, came under fire after the watchdog found staff ‘too often’ used ‘dangerous moves’ when physically removing pupils from lessons.

The initial report said that there was a ‘poor culture’ of safeguarding and that the local authority ‘does not have confidence in the school’s ability to keep pupils safe’.

Pupils were frequently bullied and were not confident that staff would tackle this and school leaders did not respond appropriately when concerns about incidents that happened in the school were raised.

The Department for Education issued the trust with a Termination Warning Notice asking it to send evidence of improvements by October 20.

However, during the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses in June 2021, it was found the academy has made progress towards the removal of the serious weaknesses designation.

The new report says the White Horse Federation multi-academy trust, which oversees the school, acted swiftly to appoint an experienced interim principal, as the principal and the designated safeguarding lead are currently off school.

It went on to say the trust and the local governing body have reflected and learned from the experience of the school being judged as having serious weaknesses and that leaders and governors remain committed to doing the very best for the pupils, the staff and the school and that the fundamental value has been "renewed, revisited and strengthened."

It also said that 'pupils welcome the recent changes' and they are confident that ‘staff really care’.

The school currently has 72 pupils on its register and caters for children with social, emotional and mental health needs.

The trust manages 32 schools.