By Sian Hewitt

sian.hewitt@essnmedia.co.uk

A CRAWLEY school has been placed in special measures after Ofsted inspectors ruled it is "failing to give an acceptable standard of education".

Three Bridges Junior School will now be regularly monitored following the release of a damning report yesterday (Tuesday).

Ofsted gave the school a rating of "inadequate", the lowest possible mark.

The inspectors who visited the school in November said it had to be put into special measures because: "The persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school."

In their report, they added that students were not learning quickly enough or achieving enough, which is mainly down to "inadequate" teaching and school leaders not giving teachers any guidance on how to improve.

The report also states that parents are not happy with the way their children are learning and that unacceptable behaviour is not being tackled in the right way.

It adds: "The school has suitable systems for tackling unacceptable behaviour but these are not always applied consistently and this can lead to poor behaviour being 'rewarded' in the eyes of other pupils, who see this as 'unfair'.

"Some parents and carers feel that the needs of their children are not being met well enough.

"They also feel that communication between home and school could be stronger.

"The inspection found that work is not always pitched at the right level for all children and this does slow learning."

The report continues: "Although the school tackles discrimination with reasonable vigour, it does not promote equality of opportunity effectively.

"Leaders at all levels have not moved the school forward since the last inspection.

"A significant minority of staff are not confident in senior leaders' abilities, so there is no shared vision to drive improvement."

The school, in Gales Drive, has said it is "determined to move forward quickly" and address the issues raised.

A statement released yesterday morning said: "The report highlighted many positive aspects of the school, but regrettably, the inspection team has placed the school in special measures.

"However, everyone connected with the school is determined to move forward quickly, having already identified many of the areas of concern prior to the inspection.

"The school wants to work closely with parents and a meeting has been arranged to discuss the report.

"The governors, leadership team and the staff are totally committed to working to improve standards across the school, and to providing the education that the children deserve."