Steps are being made to remove the entire governing body at a failing Bradford school following a damning report by the education watchdog.

The rare move is being carried out by Bradford Council chiefs to ensure improvements are made at Bradford Moor Community Primary.

As the Telegraph & Argus reported last Friday, inspectors condemned governors for a longstanding failure to ensure the school was being properly run as they put it into special measures.

But in marked contrast, they praised head teacher Janet Relton for her strong leadership and determination to drive up standards since her appointment last September.

The Council has now started the process of removing the governing body and setting up a temporary board to act as governors while a longer-term solution is found.

The Interim Executive Board will be tasked with bringing about rapid improvement at the school by providing extra support and challenge.

Board members will be hand-picked and the school has hosted meetings with parents to let them know what is happening.

A Council spokesman said the governing body had also been told of the plan, and had agreed it was in the best interests of pupils.

Councillor Ralph Berry, executive member for children’s services, said installing the board was “an essential part of moving forward”.

He said: “The local authority will be looking to secure a team of people with the appropriate skills and leadership to drive up standards and work with the parents and staff at the school.”

But he declined to say whether any of the old governors would have a place on the new board.

He said: “There is no rule that prevents that but I’m not saying that any of them will be on the new one. We will reveal these names in due course.”

The news that the governing body was being replaced was welcomed by the Bradford Moor Parents’ Group, which led a protest about standards at the school earlier this year.

But group spokesman Shaista Kauser said parents had been told the process could take two or three weeks, and called for it to be hurried up.

Coun Berry said the creation of the board needed to be ratified by the Department for Education, but he agreed it needed to happen “as smoothly and quickly as possible”.

The school has 98 per cent of pupils who do not speak English as their first language.

The inspectors’ findings included:

  • The governing body has failed to check the work of the school or hold the leadership to account, for many years and that had contributed to its decline.
  • Standards in mathematics and English are low.
  • Pupils in each key stage make inadequate progress. Those who are disabled and those with special educational needs make the least progress.
  • Pupils make inadequate progress because the quality of teaching is not good enough and this has been the case for some time.
  • Lessons fail to inspire pupils; they are not actively involved enough in their learning and so become uninterested and display poor working habits.
  • The school has not dealt successfully with the areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection report.