A mother has condemned a school's "Nazi regime" after she missed a parent's evening - only for her daughter to be given detention as punishment. Louise Butcher is one of many parents slamming the “robotic” new school regime, which has allegedly led to 150 scared kids being withdrawn from classes in one year.
Several mums of pupils at two secondary schools in Essex say their children have been left with damaged mental health since they were taken over by the Mossbourne Federation in January. Parents say their children have been given unnecessary punishment for having days off sick - and even for their mum’s not attending parents' evening.
Families from the Mossbourne Port Side Academy, and Mossbourne Fobbing Academy in Thurrock, have gone as far as to compare the new system to the “Nazi regime”. About 150 pupils have allegedly been withdrawn by their parents since the takeover, while those who are still enrolled are calling for change.
Louise, 45, withdrew her son and daughter from Mossbourne Port Side Academy after several incidents left them having daily breakdowns. Mum-of-three Louise, from Stanford le Hope, says her daughter Danni, 14, was once unable to access a bathroom all day, despite starting her period, as the toilets are locked outside of lunchtime.
Delivery depot worker Louise claims Danni was also locked in isolation all day after she failed to attend a parents evening due to work. Louise said: “Danni was put in isolation because I didn’t show up for parents evening. I wasn’t shocked that they had done it, but I was shocked that they thought they would get away with it.
“It is robotic there. Everybody is trained to walk a certain way, and you get a detention for doing the wrong thing. My daughter got a detention for sneezing. It is just horrible. It is stuff that you would see in films. You would never expect it to happen now.”
The mum has now pulled both her children from the school, and has begun home-schooling them while she looks for another suitable option. However, Louise says that so far, all the other schools appear to be full, leaving the family in a desperate situation.
She added: “I have definitely compared them to the Nazi regime a few times. Some of the teachers have a Hitler complex. It is very strict. I am expecting the cane to come back. It is like bootcamp. You send them into school because you think it’s the right thing, but in the end I just couldn’t keep doing this to them. It was a difficult decision.
“Now I have got two kids at home, and every school around here is full. I am taking control of my kids mental health, but when it comes to their education I can’t do that.”
Luanne Miles, 55, says that her 14-year-old son George, who has autism and severe allergies, has become miserable at Mossbourne Fobbing Academy since the takeover. Full-time mum Luanne claims teachers keep putting George in two-hour detentions without informing her - leaving her to fear the worst when he doesn't come home in time.
The students are not allowed mobile phones during school, so there is no way for the kids to alert or reassure their parents on where they are. She said: “If kids are off sick, they have to do a two-hour catch-up class for each day that they missed. The other day he didn't come home and I couldn't get through to the school, at 5:25, he rang to tell me he had been in detention.
“I need to know where my son is. He has a medical condition. The doctors have advised the school that it is life-threatening. He could be dead in two minutes. That is a massive breach of safety.”
Luanne says that the school issues detentions on a regular basis, timing how long children spend in the toilet and adding this on to the end of the day. She also recalled a time her son was put in isolation all day for not having a blue pen, while others faced the same for not having a Mossbourne branded coat.
Now, Luanne says that her son has become so stressed that he is eating food he is allergic to on purpose to make himself sick so that he doesn’t have to go to school. She added: “George has had endless allergic reactions, and they have not once stepped in and helped. They have a list of everything he is allergic to.
“They are not meeting his needs at lunch. They keep telling me they will make arrangements, but they have not done it. My child is harming himself not to come to school. He could kill himself. I have made an official complaint and two emails with no contact.”
This news comes after a damning report of the original Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA) in Hackney slammed their "rigid behaviour policy."
The independent report claims that students are routinely "humiliated" and "shouted at" by teachers as part of a "harmful" disciplinary culture. The City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership report added: "In essence, the review finds that MVPA's success has been achieved at too high a cost for some pupils."
Independent councillor Gary Byrne, who attended school in Hackney and has been helping Thurrock parents since the beginning, said: “I have been following it for 20 years. As soon as I heard they were coming to Thurrock I was scared. The report that has come out is damning of Mossbourne. It has been an all-consuming year for me as a councillor but now people are listening and hopefully it is going to shake things up.
“There have been almost 500 complaints. There is a policy of public humiliation and bullying. When they banned phones from the schools I got 98 messages in one weekend. It is not just one or two parents. There are so many children who are living in fear of going to that school. They get excellent results, but it is not worth the cost to the children’s mental health.”
Mossbourne has been repeatedly approached for comment.
