'Draconian' East London school measures should be investigated after allegations, says campaign group

Hackney Council has been called upon to investigate the 'draconian' practices in schools across the borough, following accusations from parents that a local academy is causing 'serious harm' to their children.

The Observer reported on Saturday that it had received a dossier of allegations from 30 parents against Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA) in South Hackney.

They shared stories of first-year students being "screamed at" by senior leaders, and five instances of secondary-age children with no previous incontinence issues soiling themselves.

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Other allegations include a parent who was "devastated" that their child's suicidal thoughts were not taken seriously, and another report of a student with a known anxiety disorder being publicly scolded by their teacher and sent home to have their fringe cut.

Educating Hackney, the campaign group leading the fight against "draconian discipline" in the borough's schools, has urged the Town Hall to conduct a safeguarding practice review, typically reserved for individual cases of serious harm to children, in response to these allegations.

The group includes two of the borough's Independent Socialist councillors, Penny Wrout and Claudia Turbet-Delof, who claim they have been flooded with "alarming" testimonies from over 200 parents, former students and staff.

At last night's full council meeting, Cllr Wrout asked the Town Hall to collaborate with the campaign, which has exposed "children suffering under years of culture of fear and cruelty in some academies".

She said that it was “extraordinary” that even the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) ombudsman is unable to investigate allegations made about academies.

Cllr Turbet-Delof added that her and Cllr Wrout’s focus had been on Mossbourne due to its location in their ward of Victoria, but they “fear the problem is more widespread, so we are keen to hear experiences from other schools in the borough”.

'We take any issues raised by parents seriously and investigate them fully'

A spokesperson for the Mossbourne Federation said the multi-academy trust was “saddened to read these accounts” and that its members “do not recognise the characterisation of the school”.

“Whilst we have high expectations of behaviour and attitudes to learning, we are very proud of being a diverse and inclusive trust, in which children and young people thrive and go on to secure outstanding results," they said.

“We take any issues raised by parents seriously and investigate them fully. We have also had external reviews by Ofsted, and the local authority — in none of these were any concerns raised.”

Parent Andy Leary-May, also leading the Educating Hackney campaign, has stated that before the Observer‘s story was published Mossbourne’s principal sent a letter to all parents telling them to anticipate the reports

The letter also made “a range of assertions and opinions” about him, he said.

His post on the group’s website stated: “The letter describes a ‘vexatious campaign against the academy’. I am not campaigning against the school. I think in many ways it is an excellent school, with a great deal of brilliant teaching from kind and caring staff.”

Leary-May added that parents were “bewildered” and “generally shocked at the callous attitude from the leadership to the increasing distress this caused”.

“I don’t have a strong ideology on strictness in schools, nor expertise in education. But I do believe that a basic level of empathy and humanity must come first, and that our son’s experiences, and those of many other children I have heard about, are not OK.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service approached MVPA directly for their response to allegations, as well as requesting a copy of the letter sent to parents.

The school referred the trust’s response and declined to share the letter due to its being “private correspondence” between staff, parents and carers.

On Monday the council said that Jim Gamble, the Independent Safeguarding Children Commissioner for City and Hackney, has visited the school and “intends to revisit the issues raised at the next Case Review Sub Group”, which meets every month.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands this visit took place on 15 November.

Councils have limited means to influence academies, but campaigners have urged the Town Hall to use its extraordinary powers to intervene.

On Wednesday, Cllr Wrout said that although she does not know what happened during the commissioner’s inspection of Mossbourne, and acknowledges the importance of confidentiality, deeper scrutiny will be required to understand the situation fully.

“I would certainly hope that he wouldn’t draw too many conclusions from conversations he had on school premises during a one-off visit, given the nature of the allegations being made about the school,” she said.

Educating Hackney have warned that the case of Mossbourne, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted and known for both its stringent behaviour code and strong exam results, may be the tip of the iceberg.

While Hackney schools’ results have come “a long way” from being found the worst in the country in 2002, the group says there has been a price to the methods used to achieve this.

“The rigour and discipline has been criticised because of the high number of exclusions for persistent disruptive behaviour and the negative impact discriminatory behaviour polices are having on students’ mental health and well-being,” they argue.

Department for Education figures reveal that 3.6 suspensions per 100 pupils were handed out by schools in Hackney during the 2023-24 autumn term.

The campaign group claims it has had queues of parents lining up to recount “harrowing” experiences, including children being permanently excluded while awaiting a special education needs and disabilities (SEND) diagnosis.

“We are not anti-discipline, which we consider to be a good thing when based on mutual respect rather than fear.

“We recognise too that not all students are adversely impacted by the regimes in some of Hackney’s schools, but for too long, those who are harmed have gone unseen,” Cllr Wrout added.

The group has pressed the council to carry out a review of national policy and accountability around discipline and wellbeing in schools, and to make sure it collects, uses and publishes any data that may help identify patterns of harmful practice.

Parents have alleged that Mossbourne tries to deter SEND pupils from attending the academy, with one parent recounting that the academy “refused to offer any flexibility or reassurance” to her autistic daughter.

“They just kept repeating this mantra: ‘There will be no exceptions’”, the girl’s mother said.

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Hackney’s deputy mayor and cabinet member for education, young people and children’s social care, said:

“We take the council’s and all our schools’ safeguarding responsibilities seriously, and we expect everyone who works with children and young people to treat them with the respect, kindness and professionalism they deserve.

“We work with our partners to ensure we all play our role in preserving the wellbeing of our children and young people. The inclusion and the wellbeing of all school pupils in Hackney is a council priority.

“We work with schools across the borough, including academies, to ensure all children and young people in Hackney receive the right support and a high quality education.

“Should any parent or carer have any concern or complaint about a school they should first raise them with the school. Only once all complaint procedures have been completed can a local authority usually then also intervene.

“Should any school, or parent or carer in Hackney, ask for the Council’s support in resolving a complaint we will happily help all parties.”

The council did not clarify if it will be triggering a safeguarding practice review.