A school's entire board of governors has been sacked after teachers were caught marking work too generously to cover up poor standards.
Parents were being fooled into thinking their children were doing well by teachers who have not had their work monitored properly for years.
Ofsted inspectors only discovered what was happening when they looked at pupils’ written work at Bradford Moor Primary School – where only 2 per cent of pupils speak English as their native language.
Anger: Parents at the Bradford school protest in February over failing teaching standards
Governors of Bradford Moor Primary in West Yorkshire, pictured, have been sacked after Ofsted inspectors discovered falling standards during a recent visit
They criticised the teachers’ ‘lack of subject knowledge’.
The school has now been placed in special measures and the education authority dumped the entire board of governors last week.
Two years ago the Labour-controlled council praised the school as an example of successful multi-racial education. But since then the school has come under fire for falling standards.
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In February, a parents’ group staged a protest over the school’s scrapping of sets in favour of mixed-ability classes.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage, pictured, was concerned that Bradford Moor Primary had been forced to rely on interpreter services
There has also been criticism over resources being spent on interpreters for children and parents.
Most pupils at the primary school come from a Pakistani background and speak Urdu or Punjabi. Only nine out of 470 have English as their first language.
Christopher Keeler, who led the Ofsted inspection, said in his report: ‘Evidence from looking at the work in pupils’ books indicates that teachers’ assessments of what pupils can do are too generous, particularly in writing.
‘This gives a misleading impression of standards to pupils and their parents.’
And in a withering attack on staff, the report added: ‘Some teachers lack the level of subject knowledge, experience and confidence required to teach either literacy or numeracy effectively.’
Inspectors concluded that planning and support for pupils was ‘not good enough’ and the governors had failed to ‘challenge’ the poor standards.
The report said pupils started school with ‘skills that are much less developed than usual for their age’ and standards continued to fall over the next three years.
They identified basic reading and writing as well as communication and social development as being particularly poor in the early years.
Even Year 6 pupils were well below average in maths and reading.
A new headteacher is now in place and council bosses are waiting for the go-ahead from the Department of Education to bring in a new team of governors.
Just nine out of 470 pupils speak English as their native language at Bradford Moor Primary (picture posed by models)
Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, said yesterday: ‘It is not surprising children who have English as a second language will struggle in English as a subject.’
He said money spent on interpreters ‘would be better spent on teaching,’ adding: ‘This is a classic example of what you get when you put political correctness before results.’
Bradford councillor Ralph Berry said: ‘We have got a school which has been through a period of change and difficulty.
'But we have a new head who has come in to address some of the long-standing issues and we are really turning things around.’
Bradford Council bosses are waiting for the go-ahead from Education Ministers to bring in a new team to replace the discredited board (picture posed by models)