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Sheppey's Oasis Academy has vowed to invest a further £1.6 million after Ofsted inspectors branded it 'inadequate'.
The Island's only secondary school, which has sites at Minster and Sheerness, has been sent reeling after a devastating surprise visit by the education watchdog over two days in June following a complaint.
The school was given just 15 minutes notice.
In the damning report, expected to be published today, inspectors pulled no punches and painted a shocking picture of bullies running out of control terrifying pupils,"foul, homophobic, racist and sexist language" going unchecked, a lack of permanent teachers and more than half of students simply not even bothering to turn up for lessons.
School bosses have put their hands up and accepted the findings, but stress they were already addressing the issues before the Ofsted team arrived.
Inspector Lee Selby wrote: "Too many pupils feel unsafe at this school. Some pupils told us that they ‘have had enough’ of being jostled and hurt in corridors or verbally abused.
"Leaders and staff do too little to challenge the foul, homophobic, racist and sexist language which is commonplace across both sites.
"Pupils have little confidence in leaders’ ability to deal with any concerns about bullying or discrimination.
"Pupils do not feel that they have a voice in this school. Their concerns are not listened to."
The report goes on: "Leaders’ expectations are too low. More than half of pupils choose not to attend school regularly.
"Too many who do attend school more regularly are then persistently absent from lessons. Those who do attend lessons frequently have their learning disturbed by unruly behaviour.
"The combination of the pandemic, changes in leadership and high levels of staff absence mean that leaders lack a firm grasp on maintaining positive behaviour across the school."
It goes on: "Many lessons are taught by supply teachers because leaders have been unable to recruit the permanent staff that pupils deserve.
"As a result, pupils make poor progress through the curriculum.
"Opportunities for enrichment are rare. Clubs and activities have not restarted since the pandemic. School trips are limited.
"However, a few pupils who battle through school life doing the right thing, are pleased to be rewarded in a number of ways, including a trip to a theme park."
The inspector added: "I strongly recommend that leaders, and those responsible for governance, do not seek to appoint early career teachers."
Out of five categories, four are labelled 'inadequate'. The fifth is 'requires improvement'.
The report adds: "Oasis Community Learning Trust has not been successful in making the improvements necessary to this school. Trustees and senior trust leaders know that strategies that work in the trust’s other schools have not worked here.
"As a result, pupils have been failed for too long. Multiple fresh starts with new leaders and increased investment have raised false hopes and not brought about the intended improvements.
"The poor attendance and uncontrolled behaviour of pupils are the biggest barriers to pupils achieving well in this school. The use of suspensions and expulsions is very high.
"Only recently have strategies to improve attendance started to make a limited difference."
But it conceded: "The school provided much needed support to the families most impacted by the pandemic and continues to do so."
'Pupils have been failed for too long'
Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis, said: “This Ofsted report clearly shows there are very serious problems at the academy and makes equally clear the scale of the challenge we face. It is the job of Oasis to turn this school around and we will do so, urgently."
He stressed Oasis had no intention of giving up and remained "fully committed."
He said: “We are investing a further £1.3m in the school buildings and £300,000 on a team of extra youth workers and pastoral roles as we know we also have to work with the parents."
He insisted the decision, coupled with a revamp of the school's leadership team, was made a week before the Ofsted visit.
He said: "This significant sum of extra funding available to the academy, in fact, the largest investment Oasis has made in any school in its history, is part of our mission to provide the best education and improve the life chances of all the children of Sheppey.”
He also pledged support for Andy Booth who took over as executive principal in January.
The extra money will develop a new Year 8 centre, a new sixth form, new science labs and improved facilities for Special Education Needs. The team of six youth workers will provide support for pupils and families in and outside class with more after-school activities and help at weekends and during holidays.
Mr Booth, who has experienced something of a baptism of fire, admitted: “This is undoubtedly a very difficult report, given the hard work we have put in over recent years to improve our school. However, our commitment to our students and to this community remains as strong as ever. If anything, it has sharpened our focus.
"From what I understand, change is long overdue. Sheppey has suffered with its secondary education for 50 years. I am very grateful I have put in place a really strong leadership team including two very experienced deputy heads I have brought in from other schools.
"We will act on the areas that need improvement quickly and we will continue to do everything possible to accelerate the positive changes that we have made in other areas."
'KCC and I are of the same view that part of the solution is to have two schools on the Island, one specialising in academic subjects and the other concentrating on vocational subjects'
He added: "Students must need to want to come to school and that's my job. We have thrown everything, including the kitchen sink, at this. It is essential we have quality teachers and support staff and that we can retain them.”
The school, which currently has three teacher vacancies, is also working with primary school heads. Mr Booth said: "We all need to take ownership of the problem."
The inspection team added: "Some individual leaders and staff with strong moral purpose are trying to do the right things for the community and the pupils they serve. This includes the new headteacher who has clear plans for the future."
Inspectors also recognised that the "most vulnerable pupils" were "well supported".
John Murphy, chief executive officer at Oasis Community Learning, said: "We all humbly accept and acknowledge the areas for improvement. Each and every one of us is working tirelessly to support our students to realise their goals and ambitions."
Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson said: "I am aware of the recent Ofsted inspection and have been actively working with Kent County Council to press the Department For Education to step in and find a long-term solution to the problem of secondary education on the Isle of Sheppey.
"KCC and I are of the same view that part of the solution is to have two schools on the Island, one specialising in academic subjects and the other concentrating on vocational subjects. To further that objective, we had a meeting recently with the DfE Regional Schools Director to relay our collective concerns and promote our solution.
"At that time the DfE would not comment on the Ofsted status at the Academy because it had not been published formally. If, as suggested, the Academy has been rated 'inadequate', then I will be requesting another meeting with the regional schools director to press for urgent action to bring about the necessary improvements."
He added: "I would add that I do not blame Oasis for the current position. They have put a lot of money and effort into improving the academy. However, they face an almost insurmountable challenge.
"The problem is that almost 1,000 children, from mostly aspirational families, leave the Island every day to go to Sittingbourne where there is a choice of five secondary schools.
"We will only start to solve the problem when we provide Island families with a choice of schools that will persuade children from those aspirational families to stay on Sheppey."
Sheppey's educational woes began more than 50 years ago when KCC demolished the Island's two technical and two secondary modern schools and replaced them with one large coeducational comprehensive - The Sheppey School or 'Comp' - in 1970 while leaving Sittingbourne as a selective area with two grammar schools.
It also introduced middle schools, later abandoned, to the Island which took pupils from nine to 13 while the rest of Kent remained a two-tier system.
Swale councillor Peter MacDonald said: "People took their eye off the ball.
Sheppey had four good secondary schools including a world-leading technical school. There was a cross-flow with pupils from Sittingbourne coming to the Tech. We need a new technical school."
Read more about the academy's troubled past here.
It has 1,485 pupils.
