A SCHOOL which takes on children at a crisis point in their education has been branded ‘inadequate’ by the government’s education watchdog.

Ofsted has heavily criticised TLG School in Farnworth following its most recent assessment.

The school, in Frederick Street, is run as a partnership between Farnworth Baptist Church and education charity TLG.

It takes on children at risk of exclusion from their parent school on a temporary basis to help them return to mainstream education.

But Ofsted found that leadership and pupils’ personal development at the school were both inadequate.

The report said: “Leaders have been too lax in their monitoring and evaluation of the school’s work. They have not kept a close eye on provision and outcomes to make sure the information they have is reliable.”

The standard of teaching was also found to ‘require improvement’. The report added: “For too long, teaching has not been good. Lessons have been too leisurely and there has been a lack of challenge.”

But there was praise in the report for the ‘excellent relationships between pupils and staff’ and the school’s success in returning children to their placing schools.

Revd John Bradbury, chair of the school’s management committee, said: “We’re obviously disappointed but, to look at it in context, the inspection was in a period we had an interim management team and we have now appointed a new headteacher. Some of the things in there were reflecting the historical situation rather than the situation as it is now. A lot of the things the inspector has picked up on are things that could have gone wrong, rather than had gone wrong.”

But he added: “It’s a disappointment but we are determined to bounce back and be even stronger.

“There are things that can be improved and we take that on board but our primary aim is to address behaviours to get children back in school and the inspector has said we are really good at that.”