A SCHOOL for children and teenagers with severe learning difficulties is in `special measures' after inspectors gave it the lowest possible grade.
An inspection report demanded Rathore School in Newry address urgently "significant areas for improvement".
It has become just the third special school to be placed into `formal intervention' since the scheme was introduced seven years ago.
Schools are typically put into the process if inspectors rate the quality of education as unsatisfactory or inadequate. These one-word overall performance indicators have now been replaced with more protracted outcomes.
Park School and Fleming Fulton, both in Belfast, were found to be inadequate in 2014. Inspectors noted key actions and changes at Fleming Fulton in a follow-up inspection, although it remains in intervention.
Inadequate was the fifth of the six old indicators, with only `unsatisfactory' beneath it.
There are now four new indicators, the lowest of which says: "The school needs to address urgently the significant areas for improvement identified in the interest of all learners. It requires external support to do so. The (Education and Training Inspectorate) will monitor and report on the school's progress in addressing the areas for improvement. There will be a formal follow-up inspection."
Inspectors placed Rathore into this category.
Rathore provides education for 177 pupils with severe learning difficulties, aged from three to 19. This includes those with profound and multiple learning difficulties, complex healthcare needs in conjunction with severe learning difficulties and some who exhibit challenging behaviour.
It is situated on the outskirts of Newry and the pupils travel from a wide geographical area. There has been a steady increase in pupil enrolment over the last four years.
Inspectors said Rathore needed to provide effective strategic leadership, "including the rigorous monitoring and evaluation of the quality of learning and teaching to inform the school's development planning process and to bring about better educational outcomes for the pupils".
There was a further need for "all staff to discuss and agree a clear assessment system to inform planning for learning throughout the school, and to assess the progression and attainments of the pupils.
The inspection praised teaching saying the majority of lessons observed were "good or better".
"In the most effective practice, well-planned and resourced lessons are skilfully presented in a stimulating learning environment," the report said.
"In the best practice in literacy, the pupils benefit from well-planned paired and group work, to support their progress in writing, talking and listening, and reading skills.
"In numeracy, there is a lack of opportunities for the pupils to develop their mathematical knowledge and skills, particularly through practical activities and play."
Through the formal intervention process, the school will receive tailored support from the Education Authority.
The school must commit to working to deliver an agreed action plan to address the areas for improvement identified in the inspection report.
An Education Authority (EA) spokesperson said the school had been proactive in engaging with the EA to bring about necessary improvements.
"A number of detailed relevant action plans have been submitted to ETI within the required timeframes and these have now been approved," he said.
"With the re-establishment of the board of governors and the recent appointment of a new principal at Rathore School, much of the work is successfully underway and tangible progress is evident throughout the whole school community."
