THE Government is threatening to withdraw funding from a school after it was blasted by inspectors and rated as “inadequate”.

The Department of Education has written to bosses at the Ortu Federation, which runs Gable Hall School in Southend Road, Corringham, after the rating by Ofsted.

It comes as furious parents protested outside the school over the weekend, following the resignation of headteacher Ceri Evans.

Angry parents are calling for him to return to the school.

Following the Ofsted inspection, bosses at the school insist they are working on rapid improvement plan and will hold “parent meetings” throughout the summer.

The letter, from the government, says improvements must be made to the school or the trust could lose its funding; however, the trust bosses insisted this is “standard protocol” for schools rated “inadequate”.

Barry Johnson, councillor responsible for education, said: “It’s always concerning when something like this happens.

“It needs to be sorted immediately and I am worried this has happened.

“We are angry about the situation and I understand why parents feel this way too.”

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A school spokesman said: “We are concentrating on drafting our rapid improvement plan to be a robust response to the concerns raised by Ofsted. This plan has to be submitted with 15 days and is the trust’s current priority to ensure it is meaningful and puts our school in the best possible position for rapid improvement.”

Georgina Clark, interim chair of the Ortu Trust, added: “We are acutely aware that this has been an extremely difficult time for everyone and ask for patience as we work on our rapid improvement plan. It is the responsibility of the trustees, together with the CEO, to ensure that the issues raised in the recent Ofsted report are addressed as quickly as possible.

“This is our main focus right now.”

The school spokesman added: “Moving forward, we intend to continue communication with parents and the wider community regularly when there are more updates to share. We are committed to begin parent meetings in the week beginning Monday, August 8, all the way through to September, for those who may be away on holiday.”