It's no wonder Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA) parents are calling on school officials to “change course or be replaced” (Staff at a London academy created an “atmosphere of fear” among studentsDecember 9). A year ago, Guardian correspondent John Harris outlined the details of what happened. investigation carried out by the Observer at two Mossbourne academic schools, including MVPA. Like Sir Alan Wood, it discovered that appalling tactics had been used to maintain discipline over the years. Many employees were shocked and left, and the last straw for many was a training for teachers called “Healthy Fear.”
Harris concluded then there were “big questions about how academies and so-called free schools are inspected and monitored” and it is of course difficult to explain how Ofsted inspectors, despite the schools' good exam results, could fail to notice both the appalling ways in which discipline was enforced and the shocking consequences. Both schools received an “excellent” rating.
Bernie Evans
Liverpool
As the parent of two children with high levels of special educational needs (Send) who suffered while in mainstream schools, I welcome Wood's report, finally acknowledging the damage that harsh regimes inflict on children. Catherine Birbalsingh, take note.
However, the Government's stance on targets is contributing to a pressure cooker atmosphere in schools and the latest announcements about cuts to mental health support appall me. Where is the help for the children identified as victims in this report? A real overhaul of the education system would recommend that all children, even those with Send's syndrome, receive the support they need at school and for their mental health, so that they can emerge as young adults safe and able to confidently contribute to society.
Name and address provided
While it is shocking to hear about the terrible treatment of children at MVPA, this climate of fear is a reality in too many schools where outcomes outweigh welfare and happiness. Teachers become complicit in this culture by allowing these abuses to exist. They, too, fear being seen as incapable of maintaining “good discipline.” Education should be about creating happy, healthy people, not just about GCSEs.
Pat Porter
Wallington, Surrey
