A new private school is "unlikely to meet all standards when it opens", an education watchdog has said for the second time.

Langley Hill Independent School, which had been expected to open in September 2019, was supposed to replace the former Rudolf Steiner School in Kings Langley. However, a new opening date for the school with proposed annual fees of up to £15,000 has not yet been confirmed.

The school closed earlier this year after Ofsted inspections in November 2018 and December 2016 led to 'Inadequate' ratings.

Inspectors said the closure was due to leadership and student safeguarding issues.

In May, an Ofsted report suggested the school would not meet standards when it opens. The watchdog reiterated its stance in a second report published last Thursday (October 31).

In a second report published after an inspection in September, Ofsted found staff had been recruited but half of the staff worked in the former school.

It also found that the board of trustees attached to Rudolf Steiner is still landlords of the school site.

Inspectors said there are weaknesses in the curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), early years foundation stage (EYFS) and special education needs and disability (SEND).

In the previous report, inspectors found that though there was a role of school safeguarding leader, no one had been allocated that role yet.

Now, the role has been allocated to a senior teacher. This teacher has already undertaken safeguarding training but is not working at the school yet.

Inspectors found the PSHE curriculum does not provide sufficient guidance for students about how to keep themselves safe online. They said this standard of safeguarding remains unlikely to be met.

Inspectors wrote: “The arrangements to safeguard the new proposed school from the failings of previous school have not been sufficiently considered.”

Despite the shortcomings, there were improvements from the first inspection.

Inspectors were pleased to find the leadership structure for the school has improved and is more precise.

And the school now has an anti-bullying and complaints policy in place.

Inspectors found the school has plans to promote British values including appreciation of other cultures and democracy.

Langley Hill was approached for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.