\n<\/p>\n
Staff at a London academy instilled a \u201cclimate of fear\u201d among pupils, with a drive for academic success likely to have harmed vulnerable children including those with special needs, according to a damning independent investigation.<\/p>\n
The report by Sir Alan Wood, one of the country\u2019s foremost experts in children\u2019s services, found that staff at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA) routinely used measures \u201cdesigned to humiliate pupils\u201d, frequently shouting at them and isolating them in corridors as part of \u201ca harsh and damaging disciplinary culture\u201d.<\/p>\n
Wood highlighted concerns about MVPA\u2019s \u201cinflexible approach, disproportionate sanctions, and the high volume of mental health referrals\u201d, and noted some practitioners considered the school\u2019s culture to be \u201cexacerbating mental health issues in pupils\u201d.<\/p>\n
Parents who campaigned for an investigation into the school\u2019s culture said they were relieved, and called on the leadership to change course or be replaced.<\/p>\n
The Department for Education said Wood\u2019s findings were \u201cserious and deeply concerning\u201d.<\/p>\n
A DfE spokesperson said: \u201cEvery child deserves to learn in a calm classroom, and school behaviour policies should promote safety, respect, and a positive environment for both staff and pupils, tailored to the needs of their pupils and wider community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to engage with the [academy\u2019s] trust to ensure that it implements the changes needed in response to these findings.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the school\u2019s governing trust said the report was being \u201ccarefully considered\u201d by its leadership. \u201cThe Mossbourne Federation is committed to doing everything in its power to ensure the best outcomes for every child who attends its schools,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
While Wood praised the secondary school for its excellent results, he said those responsible for internal oversight had been \u201clulled\u201d by good grades and failed to investigate complaints from parents over \u201cpunishment no matter what\u201d attitudes among school leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcademic excellence that traumatises some pupils is not true excellence. Discipline through fear is not preparing young people for life as confident, independent adults,\u201d Wood said in the report, commissioned by Hackney\u2019s independent safeguarding children partnership.<\/p>\n
Wood added: \u201c[MVPA\u2019s] leadership has come to believe harsh discipline is not just a means but the defining characteristic of success \u2013 the method has become the mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than responding with curiosity, leadership dismisses concerns as vexatious or ideologically motivated. Practices like shouting have become so routine they are no longer recognised as harmful. Governors have not asked: Success for whom? At what cost?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood said his evaluation of the school\u2019s data found that ethnic groups and children with special needs were \u201cdisproportionately impacted\u201d by sanctions. Those included \u201cdesking\u201d, where pupils are placed at desks in corridors as a punishment for minor infractions. \u201cThis is isolating, shaming, and educationally unproductive,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n
Jim Gamble, Hackney\u2019s independent safeguarding children commissioner, said there were wider lessons for other schools as well as for Ofsted and the DfE.<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n
Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n
Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cIf the safeguarding, welfare and inclusion of all children are not at the heart of what we expect of schools, then the foundation upon which academic excellence is built is incomplete,\u201d Gamble said.<\/p>\n Andy Leary-May, one of the parents who pressed for an investigation, said: \u201cI think those who asked for their concerns to be looked into can now feel vindicated for having done so.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s desperately important now is that somebody takes responsibility. Families need to be reassured that the culture described in the review can actually change, and if the senior leadership team and governors can\u2019t do that then they should be replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n MVPA is part of the Mossbourne Federation multi-academy trust, which grew out of the original Mossbourne Community Academy founded in 2004. The first Mossbourne success under its first headteacher, Sir Michael Wilshaw, saw the academies model copied by subsequent governments.<\/p>\n Wood said he faced persistent challenges from the academy and the federation, which insisted that communications be conducted through its solicitors, and prolonged delays in obtaining data.<\/p>\n Mossbourne Federation also conducted its own review, carried out by Anne Whyte KC. A spokesperson for the federation\u2019s members trust said: \u201cWhile the [Wood] report acknowledges the strong outcomes the schools achieve for pupils alongside high levels of support from parents and staff, it raises a number of issues which echo those detailed in the Anne Whyte KC review, published last month.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Staff at a London academy instilled a \u201cclimate of fear\u201d among pupils, with a drive for academic success likely to have harmed vulnerable children including those with special needs, according to a damning independent investigation. The report by Sir Alan Wood, one of the country\u2019s foremost experts in children\u2019s services, found that staff at Mossbourne<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[20401,1794,498,186,1518,20400,1661,583,2161],"class_list":{"0":"post-36598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-academies","9":"tag-academy","10":"tag-among","11":"tag-climate","12":"tag-fear","13":"tag-instilled","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-pupils","16":"tag-staff"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}