Ashcroft Academy - any thoughts?

[Sirine1708]

Hi, last time it was discussed here in detail 6 years ago, we live not far so I'm wondering is that that good/bad?
Haven't heard anything from current pupils, but know that some local parents are not even considering it while others were happy to get a place.

@bird123elephant You are saying that your children didn't get detentions, and liked it there. With all due respect: so what? None of that negates my points.
I never said nor implied that every single child would get detention every day, nor that every single child would absolutely hate it.

My key points were that:

• the school is unnecessarily strict. Those methods are not necessary.
• The ethos of the school and the attitude of the headteacher reminded me a lot of the toxic work environments which wrecked my mental health.
• The headteacher's attitude is: my way or the highway. Huge red flag. He think he knows best. But so did the headteachers inflicting corporal punishments not too many decades ago.
• These needlessly draconian methods are a covert way to create a hostile environment where special needs families won't apply.
• These methods can create huge anxiety and mental health issues in some kids, not just in those who misbehave, but also in those who behave well, specifically because they can end up terrified that the slightest, silliest transgression will get them in trouble. The BBC interviewed Mossbourne kids who started therapy and who still have nightmares. But you don't care, because it didn't happen to your kids, right?

A little note on the ban of bicycles is as far as I is there believe to keep your children safe , first of all the school is on the highway and second of all not all children have bicycles which can make your child feel left out comparing to their friends that do have bikes , also it may encourage kids to use lime bikes

Nonsense.

First of all, a local newspaper found the plans for the school, and the bicycle ban was proposed before the school had been even built. It's a policy driven by ideology, not by evidence, indeed there is no provision to review it if circumstances change.

It is contrary to all the local and national guidelines on incentivising healthy travel to school. In fact, I am not aware of any other school in the whole country with such an idiotic policy.

It is another red flag, because it signals the kind of capricious petty rule which is not justified and which does not need to be justified, because the headteacher decides and you, irrelevant minion, must switch off your brain and obey your master. You do you, but I don't want that for my kids. And, if your mental health had suffered because of similar behaviour, neither would you

@bird123elephant My older son went to the same school, but he left, after my daughter joined so we have a lot of experience with the school ( which I forgot to mention )

So you are telling me that you already have another child at the school, forgot to mention that, and only mentioned that the school is good because your other child likes it after a week? Sure, that sounds credible...

As for the rest:

If I worked in a place where many people left because they hated it, I wouldn't just say "I like it there", I would say "I like it but many people didn't, so watch out".

If I worked in a place which mistreats many employees, with many employees leaving, going to therapy etc, I wouldn't say "I like it there", I would say "It didn't happen to me, but many people suffered x y and z, so watch out".

But that's just me.

You have 2 options:

1. Send your child to ashcroft for them to study (they must be well mannered or not be forgetful)
2. Dont send them there and miss out on your child feeling depressed and late home being very tired.

My son goes to this school and what did i find out? On his second week, he was going to lunch late (because he had a 30min detention for not having a pencil) and he was stopped by a teacher who said he was too late to eat. Note on how ashcroft finishes at 4:30pm on tuesday-thursday.He also had 5 catch up hour to attend of which he has to do an hour a day which means he was allowed home at 5:30pm. My son came home starving tired and it was the worst experience for me and my son. I felt as if the school didnt care about my sons safety. While he was walking home on that day he lost his keys to our house and needed to call me. Guess what? He cant.Why? Because ashcroft dont allow phones. No safety, no help, just study and behave and get detentions. one of the worst schools. i see why other people call this school bad. Education is good but do not send your kid here is my advice.

I am not sure anyone should comment on a school they don’t send their kids too. It then becomes hearsay. It is a brilliant school. Yes it won’t be perfect and there will be stories as in EVERY school. My children and their friends have all thrived and become confident and friendly. Yes some of them have had detention including my own but it really isn’t that big a deal. No they don’t allow phones - they are now banned by law! - but I have had numerous calls during the school day from my children to inform me or ask me about something. It is nothing like some of the non parents have described. Of course you will get negative stories like all schools but from my perspective the children are very well looked after. SEND children thrive and children who maybe struggling for whatever reason are given great pastoral care.

@Mumoftwoin any idea what sixth form is like? do many leave or arrive?

@Mumoftwoin I am not sure anyone should comment on a school they don’t send their kids too.

What a nonsensical comment. Someone whose kids don't go there won't know all the ins and outs.
But it is perfectly sensible for a parent to report that the school gives a detention to students who cycle to school, that the head teacher came across as a repressed frustrated boy who didn't have enough love from his mummy when he was a kid, that his "my way or the highway" attitude and his focus on pretty capricious rules bears a lot of similarities with the ethos of the Mossbourne Academy (with hundreds of families coming forward, former pupils undergoing years of therapy for emotional abuse, etc).

Phones are not banned by law

@Mumoftwoin No they don’t allow phones - they are now banned by law!

Wrong. Many schools have policies whereby phones must neither be seen nor heard. That is perfectly compliant with the new law.
Ashcroft goes above and beyond, saying that kids cannot have a phone at all.
Whatever your opinions on the matter, that's not the law.

@Mumoftwoin it is one thing to disagree, but this mix of falsehoods / misinformation suggests your feedback is simply not reliable. Do you have a specific agenda??