A TROUBLED school faces a bleak future after receiving another damning report.

Ofsted inspectors said classroom management was "weak", academic progress was "inadequate" and behaviour was "poor" at Grays School Media Arts College.

The school, based in Hathaway Road, Grays, was put into special measures by the Government last year.

But at the time, Thurrock education bosses were confident deficiencies would be remedied and full backing was given to headteacher Graham Winter. However, the latest progress report claimed the school had made little progress.

Criticisms included: l School's leadership was guilty of being "overgenerous" in its self-appraisal.

l Inadequate academic progress l Weak classroom management l Poor behaviour l Poor punctuality, quality of learning, teaching and time management by staff l No evidence of effective management support.

Another concern was over the school's criminal record checking system.

The report concluded there was no record of checks being carried out on staff, over their eligibility to work in the UK and whether overseas criminal records had been checked.

The inspectors noted the interim executive board, who replaced the axed board of governors, took four months before they even had a meeting.

The management of the school came in for the harshest criticism, though, with the report stating there was little evidence managerial initiative or support had had any impact whatsoever.

Councillor Marian Canavon, Labour's education spokesman, said: "This is shocking news for everyone who cares about children's education, particularly parents whose children attend this school."

Thurrock Council and the school were unavailable for comment. The Echo put a call into the council at 7pm on Monday, followed up by a written request yesterday, but have so far had no response.

The school referred the Echo to the council for comment.