The owner of a former ‘alternative education’ school which was subject to a scathing Ofsted report forcing its closure in 2022, has been barred from managing independent schools.

This week the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, found Victoria Poole-Birrell ‘unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school (including an academy or free school) under section 128 of the Education and Skills Act 2008’.

The former proprietor of Colours Academy on the Redlake Trading Estate in Ivybridge, Devon, will now also be disqualified from being a governor at any local-authority-maintained school in England.

An investigation ruled Poole-Birrell:

• Showed conduct which demonstrates that the individual poses a risk to children
• Failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of children and staff is adequately maintained; failure to put in place, manage and/or enforce safeguarding measures in line with statutory guidance
• Displayed a pattern or repetition of behaviours that individually do not amount to serious misconduct, but when considered together, highlight the person’s unsuitability to take part in the management of independent schools

Colours Academy, a non-selective, independent school, opened in 2019 to teach youngsters who would normally be home schooled.

However, its first Ofsted inspection in 2021 led to an ‘inadequate’ rating and demands that the school closed, amid safety fears, including its close proximity to a railway line.

Inspectors also said the quality of education was ‘poor’ and leaders ‘failed to create an effective culture of safeguarding’.

In accordance with the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008, Poole-Birrell has three months to launch an appeal against the Government’s decision.