A UNIT for children excluded from mainstream schools will be taken over by an academy chain as part of efforts to turn around its fortunes.

The Bradford District Pupil Referral Unit was rated inadequate in every category when it was inspected by Ofsted in March 2017, with inspectors saying highlighting “frequent incidents of violent and aggressive behaviour”, weak safeguarding arrangements and “unacceptably high” absence rates.

It was ordered to find an academy sponsor to help improve performance, but until recently there had been little progress in finding anyone willing to take on the school.

And further inspections of the facility, based at Anerley Street, Bowling, ” continued to raise serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, teaching and learning and leadership and management.”

But at a meeting of Bradford Council’s Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee meeting last night, members heard how the PRU had turned a corner.

Bradford based Exceed Academy Trust has, in the past few days, agreed to take over the running of the school.

The trust runs Appleton Academy and five primary schools throughout the district.

Members also heard from Jonathan Schofield, who has been acting head of the PRU since early summer.

A report on the school said a scrutiny committee has, after seeing evidence of what has been done to improve the unit, judged that the PRU is “now making good progress towards the removal of Special Measures and has improved considerably since the last Ofsted monitoring visit.”

Mr Schofield told members of the committee: “I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved in the 15 weeks since I took over. We’ve been visited by three scrutiny panels, and the last two judged us to be making good progress.”

He said changes include separate staff and pupil entrances to deal with safeguarding concerns, and a pastoral hub providing a “crisis room” for young people.

The PRU currently delivers provision for Year 10 and Year 11 students – up to 80 places at Anerley Street with another 25 places based at Keighley College.

Mr Schofield added: “Before students told us it was a bit like Groundhog Day – there was a narrow curriculum. But the curriculum has been transformed now. It is fantastic to see the change in our young people.

“Students can have a very negative view of pupil referral units – it can be like they are being sent to an educational dumping ground. We don’t want them to see it like that, we want them to see it as a place where they can get life chances.”

He said the school had recently set up a hair and beauty studio called On Fleek where students could learn vocational skills.”

The committee were told that some children in the school had mental health problems, and others lived “nomadic” lifestyles, with one having attended 10 secondary schools in the district before attending the PRU.

Another girl had not been in education for three years before attending the PRU.

Councillor Sinead Engel (Lab, Clayton and Fairweather Green) said: “It is refreshing to hear all this. These young people should not just be written off.”

Mr Schofield replied: “We have to help these young people get back into mainstream education. Some of these young people are here because they have done one thing wrong.”