Key Highlights
- It was a year ago that the Guardian’s John Harris outlined the details of an investigation carried out by the Observer into two Mossbourne academy schools, including MVPA.
- It had found, as Sir Alan Wood has, that for many years horrendous tactics have been used to enforce discipline.
- Many staff were appalled and left, with the final straw for many being a teachers’ training session entitled “healthy fear”. Harris concluded then that there were “big questions about how academies and so-called free schools are scrutinised and overseen”, and it is certainly difficult to explain how Ofsted inspectors, regardless of the schools’ good examination results, could fail to notice both the appalling ways discipline was being enforced and the shocking after‑effects.
- Both schools were awarded the “outstanding” grade. Bernie EvansLiverpool As a parent of two children with a high level of special educational needs (Send) who were harmed while in mainstream schools, I welcome the Wood report, finally recognising the damage that is done to children through harsh regimes.
- Katharine Birbalsingh, take note. However, the government’s stance on targets contributes to this pressure cooker atmosphere in schools, and the latest announcements to cut back on mental health support fill me with horror.
