The new measures have not gone down well with some parents, who said children are now anxious about going to school
Over two hundred students at St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy in Whiston, Merseyside, have faced suspension within a three-week period following the introduction of stringent new disciplinary rules. The school asserts that these measures are designed to ‘raise the bar’ for expected standards, yet some parents have branded the actions “extreme” and claim they are causing children to feel anxious about attending school.
The academy made news last year when headteacher Lee Peachey and deputy head Anna Kenny were unexpectedly absent from their posts, with no explanation provided. Over a year on, both remain absent but are still listed on the school’s website, with Clare McKenna serving as acting headteacher.
The unexplained disappearances, which have not been clarified by the Pope Francis Catholic Multi-Academy Trust overseeing the school, followed a high point for St Edmund Arrowsmith. In May of the previous year, the school improved its Ofsted rating, moving out of the inadequate category for the first time since 2015.
However, recent decisions by school authorities indicate a belief that significant changes are necessary to elevate the school from its current requires improvement status, particularly by tackling behavioural issues among students.
The school has collaborated with the Education Exchange – a consortium of schools, local authorities, and educational bodies providing advice – to overhaul its disciplinary procedures, leading to a significant rise in pupil suspensions and exclusions, reports the Liverpool Echo.
According to the ECHO, the introduction of the new policy saw 99 suspensions in the first week alone. The following weeks recorded a decrease, with 67 and then 36 suspensions, which school leaders interpret as evidence that students are adapting to the revised expectations.
It is understood that many of these suspensions involved sending pupils home for the day, a step taken only after a student persistently ignored a reasonable request from staff.
However, the stringent measures have not been well-received by all parents. Speaking to the ECHO, one father, who remained anonymous due to his child attending the school, labelled the actions as “extreme” and blamed them for the unnecessary loss of schooling over trivial matters.
He expressed: “I am finding the reasonings for the punishments to be minor and, in my opinion, not befitting of a day in isolation and/or suspension.
“In my opinion the school are not tackling the root cause and are not considering reasons for children or their behaviours on individual merit, it appears to be a new blanket policy and dishing out punishments.”
He remarked: “I have no issues with my child being punished; however, it should be relevant to the offence and warranted, and I believe there should be a process or steps taken to avoid suspensions. Suspension should always be a last resort once every other avenue is exhausted.
“Right now there are mass isolations, mass suspensions and mass numbers of pupils missing valuable time in the classroom, therefore affecting their learning.”
He alleged that many children have become “anxious and worried about going to school,” also accusing the school of failing to communicate properly with parents or provide adequate notice for isolations and suspensions.
He explained: “It literally has become a guessing game, and it will be affecting many parents and their work given that we never know if we need to pick our child up early, if they are in class or not, or if they are in isolation or have a one-hour detention, which is the normal procedure.”
The school’s new disciplinary procedures have sparked heated discussions on local Facebook groups as well. While some parents argue their children are being suspended too frequently and criticise the measures, others advocate for a more stringent approach.
A concerned parent commented: “They actually don’t let the children breathe. The phone calls I get are for silly things. They not in the army; they have there own characters and teachers and, unless there behaviour is very disturbing, should be able to deal with thisBut another parent disagreed, adding: “.
Yet another parent voiced a contrasting opinion, stating: “It’s about time the schools clamped down; some kids run riot.”
In response to a request for comment on the new policies, acting head Clare McKenna informed the ECHO: “Since our recent Ofsted inspection was published just over a year ago, which was the school’s first more positive outcome in more than a decade, we have achieved a great deal, and progress has been made.
“The support we have received from many has been hugely appreciated. We also recognise, however, that there were elements of the school which were holding back further improvements – particularly in relation to behaviour and expectations.
“We spent a great deal of time looking at how best we could overcome these hurdles. In response, we have utilised our involvement with the Education Exchange, a professional group of leading educationalists who share best practice, expertise and experience, to help us develop some additional targeted approaches.
“This has resulted in us raising the bar in terms of what we expect of all our pupils.
“The vast majority of our young people should be applauded for how they have embraced these changes. The school is even calmer and more focused – and the feedback we are getting from students is hugely positive.”
Ms McKenna stated: “Inevitably, there are also some students who have pushed back and are testing the new boundaries of what is expected of them. This has led to a spike in the number of sanctions that have been given – but, just two weeks in, we are already seeing a significant drop (of about two-thirds) in things like short-term exclusions. We expect this trajectory to continue.
“Importantly, we are also doing more to celebrate those students who are working hard and thriving – it is not just about sanctions.
“There has been some push back from parents, but this has been significantly outweighed by the number of positive comments we have received. That is why we have held coffee mornings and invited people in to see the new expectations in action – the change is tangible and having a very positive impact.
“Ultimately, we all want the very best for our brilliant pupils. Behaviour is improving, children are happier and learning is more focused.”