A PUBLIC meeting called to reassure parents at Tavistock College in the wake of an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report has been criticised for giving no opportunity to quiz the senior management on why things have gone wrong.

Parents of Tavistock College students were invited to fill in feedback forms at a meeting held last Wednesday evening at the school in the wake of its ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report.

However, one parent who attended the meeting said he was disappointed that no chance was given to directly question senior members of the management team about how they intended to turn things around.

Instead, he said, there were short presentations by Dan Morrow, chief executive of the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, which runs the school, and Tristan Muller-Forster, the principal of Tavistock College.

The Tavistock parent, who has two teenage chidren at the school, said: ‘There was simply no opportunity to ask the senior management questions. They simply weren’t prepared to do that. Instead, they directed us to fill in feedback forms in small groups in the room.

‘There was no explanation as to how they had arrived at this dreadful Ofsted report. There was also no clear way forward, they didn’t share a plan that they can monitor and review. They said they had one but there was no detail.’

He added: ‘I personally feel that there are shortcomings that are in the capability of the senior leadership which will lead to a period of uncertainty.’

He said that as a parent who had been involved with the school ‘for a number of years’ he had respect for the teachers and teaching provided but was ‘really appalled’ by the report.

‘It is the worst report I have ever read from a school and it is quite clear that the issue is the incumbent leadership and absolutely the [Dartmoor] Multi Academy Trust have to take more responsibility for this.’

The Ofsted report had labelled the school as ‘inadequate’ and placed the school under monitoring from Ofsted to address ‘serious weaknesses’.

It said that the day-to-day life of the school was disrupted by poor behaviour and children ‘do not feel safe in school’ because they fear being intimidated by other children.

The sixth-form provision at the school was the only aspect of college listed as good. However, the report was critical of the lack of support for children with special educational needs. In response to the criticism, a college spokesperson offered one-to-one sessions with parents who had been unable to attend its information evening.

A spokesperson for the college, said: ‘As a college, we welcomed the engagement and support demonstrated by parents and carers at our recent information evening. At this session, we outlined the challenges highlighted in the Ofsted report and the work that has already been undertaken to address these issues since the inspection took place. We then shared the four key pillars for further improvement we are focusing on, the actions under each of these areas and what success will look like so we all know the positive difference being made as we progress.

‘We then engaged parents and carers in a feedback activity facilitated by senior staff and student leaders so they could share ideas on the areas for improvement or raise any questions they may have had. We collected responses from parents and carers and will now produce a summary report for them, and use these responses to help further develop our improvement strategy.

‘This feedback session was then immediately followed by an opportunity for parents and carers to individually engage with senior leaders to discuss any questions or concerns one-to-one. We have also offered further one-to-one meetings for any parents or carers who still have any individual concerns or were unable to attend on the evening. We look forward to continuing to proactively engage with our parents, carers, staff and students as we all continue this upward journey together.’