STAFF at a school for children with autism are “fire fighting” on a daily basis, a critical report has found.

Several employees do not even have an understanding of autism spectrum disorder, the Ofsted probe into Doucecroft School said.

The school, in Eight Ash Green, has now been downgraded by the education watchdogs to inadequate overall after the inspection.

Its headteacher Jane Smart, who had been due to retire this summer, has now left. She has been replaced by Louise Parkinson.

The school’s last inspection in 2017 rated it as requiring improvement.

This time inspectors said: “Leaders do not have the capacity to undertake essential strategic work. High staff turnover and difficulties in recruitment result in leaders fire fighting day-to-day needs.”

The report said the 49-pupil school is also failing to seek sufficient support for a significant minority of pupils who have the most complex needs.

While leaders check the appropriateness of physical restraint when it is used, they do not have enough understanding about how well they are meeting the long-term needs of those pupils who are restrained multiple times across weeks, months and years.

Leaders are not using their own processes and policies when recording serious incidents.

This means there are a number of things which would classify as serious incidences which have not recorded.

But strengths highlighted included improvements in governance since the previous inspection and hardworking, dedicated staff ensure pupils are kept safe and looked after on site.

A raft of suggested improvements for the school include to increase the number of senior leaders, to secure timely and well co-ordinated professional support for pupils with the most complex needs and regularly review the use of physical restraint.

The school is run by charity Autism Anglia and caters for pupils aged three to 19.

In a statement governors and Autism Anglia trustees said they were “concerned” by the report.

“The immediate change that took place in mid-March was our appointment of Louise Parkinson. One of the key factors for the governors in appointing Louise was her track record of successful school leadership, particularly her recent experience as head at Caldecott Foundation School in Kent.

“This school had been judged as requires improvement in two consecutive Ofsted inspections when Louise took up her post and she led its rapid improvement to good.”