A CHURCH school has been ordered to improve its financial arrangements after an investigation found 30 failings in managing its operations.

The directive follows a review, last October, by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), of procedures at St Aidan’s C of E Academy, Darlington, in Co. Durham. It records “continued concerns in relation to governance and oversight of financial management” by the board of trustees.

The failings range from not appointing a suitably qualified chief financial officer and a governance professional, to not publishing the trust’s whistleblowing policy, and failing to maintain an up-to-date register of trustees’ interests.

In the formal Notice to Improve (NTI), the agency’s Schools Financial Support and Oversight director, Warwick Sharp, thanks the school for its co-operation and positive action taken since the review, but says that, owing to “the extent of issues identified, the ESFA does not have sufficient assurance of good financial management and governance within the Trust”.

The notice sets out a series of deadlines, from one to three months, to rectify the problems. Penalties for failure range from intervention by government-appointed officials to termination of the trust’s contract.

The school opened in September 2007 after the closure of a predecessor school, and has 512 pupils, aged 11 to 16. The school website says that it has become “a school of choice and a source of pride for pupils, parents and the local community”.

In a statement, the principal, Dean Lythgoe, who is also the trust’s accounting officer, said that the agency had noted the positive steps taken to address their concerns. “However, there is more to do,” he said. “We must stress that this is not about financial impropriety. The ESFA has promised to lift the NTI as soon as its expectations are met and the Trust’s board and senior leaders will continue to work closely with them to make sure this happens as soon as possible.”