Mossbourne Academies: investigations into alleged emotional harm and abuse. Why are needlessly strict academies unaccountable?

[ParentOfOne]

The Guardian has published a story https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/dec/07/london-academies-emotional-harm-mossbourne-schools-observer-investigation

about allegation of emotional harm and other forms of mistreatment at "one of the country's leading academy trusts", which runs the following schools in Hackney, North London: https://www.mossbourne.org/our-schools/

It is a follow up to a similar story, on the same topic, published a couple of weeks ago: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/nov/23/teachers-at-mossbourne-academy-in-hackney-screamed-at-and-humiliated-pupils-say-angry-parents

The previous story was based on testimonials from 30 parents, but now 70 parents, more than 30 former students and eight former teachers have come forward

"A dossier of allegations, shared with the Observer and sent to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, included Mossbourne teachers being trained in “healthy fear” and “screaming” sometimes “centimetres apart” from children’s faces, several reports of children fainting in line-ups while being shouted at, and children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) being punished unfairly and “pushed out” to other schools. Many former students said they had suffered mental health issues due to being afraid in school which had lasted long after they left."

Here there were some discussions about how notoriously strict these schools were https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5019841-mossbourne-community-academy-any-experiences but no one mentioned this kind of emotional abuse.

My opinion remains that:

• I hate how so many schools have become academies. That's a backdoor privatisation, with teachers being paid less, while the CEOs of these academy trusts earn more than many University vice-chancellors
• I hate that academies are de facto unaccountable to anyone
• It is false that academies do a better job. Some work well, some don't, but lack of transparency and accountability remain big issues. E.g. see academic research by the LSE https://www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/Assets/Documents/PDF/Research-reports/Academies-Vision-Report.pdf .
• Academies are simply good at showing Ofsted what they want. If this kind of s* happens in a school rated Outstanding, it means ratings are useless
• I am all for strict discipline, and I will absolutely stand by the school if they punish my child for misbehaving. But I absolutely dread needlessly draconian rules, put together by sexually repressed headteachers who didn't get enough love from their mums, and who get off on exercising this kind of authority to crush their students' spirit. I had made some examples here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5168466-how-common-are-detentions-at-secondary?page=9&reply=138524258 where I also talked about a secondary school in London banning bicycles and giving detentions to students caught cycling to school

Because if you’re poor and your kids only chance of success in life is a good education, you’ll put up with anything to secure it.

Because they generally get good exam results.

Because violent kids or those with SEN are excluded or managed out, so it’s an environment more conducive to learning.

Because the ethos is work hard, achieve or else.

Not justifying any of the above, just answering the question with guesses from what I’ve read.

I have a SEND child and had no money, the MC campaigners ruined our local school for DC1 so we had to move to another school that takes no nonsense from the entitled radical activists. I didn't even consider the local school for DC2 as it's gone downhill so much since it was infected by the activism. It didn't get better for SEND children either as chaotic environment never helps anyone, let alone disabled people.

Your preaching about SEND is very misplaced if you tag me.

“Schools are not the source of the problem, but unfortunately they are the arena in which this plays out.”

@Lunedimiel - schools are already responsible for so much in this country. It is very difficult to recruit teachers now (and management staff too).
They cannot be made responsible for failings in the NHS, CAMHS, SEND waiting lists, social services and in some cases, parenting failures (and sometimes even police shortages/gangs and county lines). And they certainly cannot be made responsible for successive Governments trying to save money on education, Covid catchup or SEND.

So all I am saying is to be mindful of the above. Mistakes happen and apologies should be given and lessons learnt. But to try and blame schools for everything is part of the problem.

Therefore, if school leaders say there is a problem with parent activism, then I think if we do need to listen. Otherwise the result will just be even fewer teachers. The system itself should self regulate effectively. The press is not a regulator, nor is social media and all of it is biased.

Uber2music - I have heard the same story many times. The thing is, a lot of these parents can destroy something that the local community like and then move away or go private when they realise what they've done.

It's true that the internet makes it a lot easier to get information. But it also enables a lot of misinformation, and it's hard to navigate. Google alone is not a good source. If you look up MCA on Google maps and check the reviews, you get all kinds of stuff, some written by kids who are annoyed with their friends.

People who have only been in the UK for a year or two won't know anything about local schools' reputations. In primary I met parents who had never heard of Ofsted.

This is why we need investigations like the one being carried out at Mossbourne - asking questions, getting answers, publicising the results and, if necessary, encouraging change.

@zaxxon As I said before, this isn't the case with the Hackney parents leading this. Have a read of their interviews.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out once pupil number start to drop at secondary level. At the moment parental choice is limited where I live as 5 out of 8 schools are run by a particular MAT. Half the schools were oversubscribed and the half that were are not far off capacity.

My son started in Reception this year and none of my local schools were oversubscribed. Two schools out of eight also dropped their PAN. DS’s school was undersubscribed by 15 (PAN 60) and has a great reputation and is normally always oversubscribed. It will be interesting to see what happens when these low pupil numbers filter through to year 6 and secondaries activity have to try to attract parents.

@Ubertomusic I have a SEND child and had no money, the MC campaigners ruined our local school for DC1 so we had to move to another school that takes no nonsense from the entitled radical activists. I didn't even consider the local school for DC2 as it's gone downhill so much since it was infected by the activism. It didn't get better for SEND children either as chaotic environment never helps anyone, let alone disabled people.

I am sorry to hear you have had these issues, but I don't quite follow your thought process. Could you help me understand what you mean?

Surely you are not saying that, since you have the experience of disagreeing with some complaints which, in your view, ultimately caused more harm than good, then all complaints are wrong and should be ignored, and that no one should ever dare question schools?? Surely you're not saying that, are you??

Also, does agreeing with strict BUT FAIR discipline, agreeing with mobile phone bans, agreeing with punishments for missed homework or misbehaviour, but not agreeing with children being shouted at , being forced to wet themselves, being forced to wear blazers in a heatwave...

does all of this make me an "entitled radical activist"???

@Araminta1003 I am singling you out because the article you had linked was complete nonsense, for the reasons I had explained.

And because you are one of the many who keep insisting on the false dichotomy of anarchy and chaos vs batshit crazy discipline which crushes kids' souls with petty capricious unsubstantiated rules. A middle ground is possible. be strict about behaviour but don't shout at children, don't terrorise them, don't force them to wear blazers in a heatwave or to wet themselves, etc. It's not that hard.

The whole point I am trying to make is that we need to move on from these old fashioned left and right ideologies surrounding education.

Wanting strict but fair rules, and opposing strict and batshit crazy, is simply common sense, it's neither leftwing nor rightwing!!!

Again, for the gazillionth time: no one has explained why we would need strict and batshit crazy. No one.

For some kids, get high grades at GSCEs and A levels is a massive achievement so what if they ask for a bit of rote learning at uni, in their first term. That can be unlearned.

I don't follow. Are you saying there is no altrnative to rote learning and that only those who go to uni should be exposed, and only then, to a modicum of critical and original thinking? I very much disagree.

also why do some parents just want just all state schools and no private ones, as education will never be equal even if there were all state schools as there are many different variables ?

I don’t think anyone is saying complaints shouldn’t be investigated. However, complaints instigated by ideological campaign groups which object to a school’s whole approach need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Here we have a situation where there have been countless independent (Ofsted) reports and exam outcomes showing no sign of any issues. Yet all of a sudden allegations going back decades are emerging now we have a new government.

Equally, I don’t think there is any school in the UK that doesn’t allow blazers to be removed in hot classrooms.

I don’t think anyone is saying complaints shouldn’t be investigated. However, complaints instigated by ideological campaign groups which object to a school’s whole approach need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

What happens when people complain and it hits the news is that others who have been affected but who have for various reasons not complained yet, tend to come forward. Seeing their experience out there can give them the strength to speak out. To a devotee of the organisation which is being complained about this might seem like an 'ideological campaign'. It isn't.

When the details of Mohammes Al-Fayed's sexual abuse got out, about 100 additional women came forward. So are they all liars and ideologically motivated then?

The same applies to Mossbourne. The additional complaints are a natural part of the process, not any kind of persecution.

Exam results are not evidence that a school isn't doing unacceptable things. Successful OFSTEDs aren't either - schools tend to be pretty brilliant at gaming the system.

@TreeSquirrel Here we have a situation where there have been countless independent (Ofsted) reports and exam outcomes showing no sign of any issues.

We are talking about allegations of emotional and psychological abuse. How on earth would any of that show up in exam outcomes????? Children can achieve good exam results and still be the victims of terrible abuse, so what on earth are you talking about???

Yes, there have been Ofsted reports, and the whole point is that, if Ofsted doesn't pick up these kinds of allegations, brought up by not 1, not 3, not 7, not 20, but almost 200 people, then Ofsted is useless IMHO.

And I am not surprised Ofsted doesn't pick it up, to be honest. It's not like Ofsted interviews children in a setting where they are free to speak their mind. And it takes a very motivated parent to reach out to Ofsted in the very tight time window that's available during an inspection.
I made the example that a friend removed her child from a school because the school wouldn't do anything about the bullying against her. Then the next year that school got rated Outstanding.
Also, again, history teaches us that all kinds of organisations can and do hide various forms of abuse for long periods of time. So the argument "it cannot be true otherwise someone would have said something or picket it up" is utter bull.

Yet all of a sudden allegations going back decades are emerging now we have a new government.

Oh, enough with the conspiracy theories! I am no fan of Starmer and I think Labour's VAT on private schools is bonkers, but to think that there must be some conspiracy behind this says a lot about you

Hi there. Apologies for ducking out but I am looking after my elderly mother.
Some of the readings you provided were very interesting for sure. But mostly this is a very hyperbolic response. I do not see this as a choice between strict and what you refer to as "batshit crazy". I don't understand the need to engage in this way. You appear to have no respect for anybody who doesn't agree with you. You refer to "Brits (who) are brainwashed and incapable of realising (things)". You say things like "pretty please". This just makes this nasty and I am just trying to suggest that, as in most things, there is not just one viewpoint. I am also trying to suggest that respecting people with different viewpoints is a good way to find more support for even part of your campaign. I might be able to put a point across that you haven't considered. I think I am capable of that. If this was such a straightforward open-and-shut case of abuse then surely there would have been Ofsted reports over the last 20 years to imply that something isn't right. If there was so much abuse going on surely people would have withdrawn their kids and would not be sending them to the school! Why would parents continue to support a school that is so cruel? Could it be that this simply isn't their experience of it? Could it be that the school has in fact helped hundreds of children (thousands) to achieve their academic and emotional potential?
Nobody is saying that your experience is wrong or somehow untrue. I wouldn't say that ever. But equally my experience is not wrong or untrue.
I feel very sure that there have been mistakes made in the way that some complaints have been handled by the school, by the LT, by Ofsted and by the DforE. I am assuming that these complaints have gone the whole way up the process chain before going nuclear. That is certainly a failing by the entire system and all of those institutions should hold some measure of blame for allowing this situation to have got this far. If it went through the process.
But in denying that Mossbourne hasn't helped anybody and is in fact Dotheboys Hall you are misrepresenting the facts. The system has helped thousands of people. It hasn't helped you. And that is a pity.
I know that when we sent our child here we went to a parents' evening where we were told in no uncertain terms exactly what to expect from the school and its system. We were told in person. And then we were told with letters that were sent home. We were under no illusions about what the school expected. That would have been the time to withdraw our child and send our child somewhere else in the borough; Haggerston or Bridge or Clapton. There were so many options available. Even across borough borders to schools like Morpeth. All of these schools use different ways of managing behaviour and are more or less extreme. We chose to stick with Mossbourne. It didn't disappoint. We fell foul of the rules a couple of times but by and large it suited our child.
We also knew when we chose that school that it was set up primarily to prioritise disadvantaged children in the area, those for whom accessing good education was hard. We knew that this meant that our child would not be centred by the school and we were just fine with that. We thought that was good for our child. We knew that the discipline would be to help other children for whom behaviour was an issue. We felt our child was sufficiently robust and already understood the rules and was equipped to follow them. I know that not everyone's child is in this lucky position. I also know that children change and develop and sometimes they become fragile when one isn't expecting it. I have a great deal of sympathy for the parents I know to whom this happened.
I expect you thought, similarly to us, that it would suit your child. And it didn't.
My puzzlement comes at why it is that you didn't just send your child somewhere else. If we lived where I grew up and there was only one local school available I would be completely sympathetic to your cause. But we don't and there is a huge choice of different ways of educating the young of Hackney.
So I remain mystified at your insistence that, even though thousands of other people's children have been well served by this school, and even though the LT provides you with a wide choice of alternatives, somehow because this school didn't suit your child and some others it needs to be changed fundamentally. Where is the logic?
You can send out all the readings and "takes" you want but this basic question remains unanswered. What gives you the right to change something which suits most other people; the majority? This is democracy. Why would you deny other people who want this, the right to have it?
Your position seems to be that it is bad for us. Or at least bad for our children. What gives you the right to make such a judgement? Are you an educational expert? I don't think you are. Do all educational experts agree with this? No they don't.
I don't know about other people but I am rather averse to the judgement of strangers on my parenting decisions. I think I have done a decent job and made good decisions regarding my child, who is now an adult. Who are you to tell me that I am wrong?
The rest of your response to my comments seems to be along the lines of "because I say this so it must be true". It is unhelpfully hysterical and I disagree with you on quite alot. There are some things I concur on like the fact that corporal punishment used to be regarded as necessary and we now no longer regard it as so. This is called progress. I am in favour of it.
I don't feel under any pressure to provide you with peer reviewed anythings. You can do your own research. I am not pretending to be an education expert. I am a librarian by trade and I know how to look things up. I doubt I would know how to interpret them. I am happy to leave these things to the experts.
Dismiss me as a troll if you wish. I am not a troll. I am another parent trying to calmly put a different point of view because I want to and I can. The fact that you are so convinced that you are so correct about your position that you can disregard so many other viewpoints makes you only qualified to stand for yourself. And I am sorry for this.

@TreeSquirrel Equally, I don’t think there is any school in the UK that doesn’t allow blazers to be removed in hot classrooms.

What you think is factually wrong. I know of plenty of cases where that happens.
People on this very thread told you the very same thing.
I had even posted links on a few stories.
A cursory search on Mumsnet will confirm the same.

Tell me, what is the logical fallacy leading you to think that doesn't happen?

Is it the preconception that you think schools are reasonable?

Is it inference from an unrepresentative sample, because you may have not heard about it so you cannot believe that what you don't hear about may be a thing?

I am curious, because understanding your flawed thought process would reveal a lot about you and how you have handled this entire discussion

Hi again!
Once more unto the breach!
The reason I know there are systems which work is because I have used them and I used them in a Free School which is even more independent than an academy chain. I sent an email about a safeguarding concern and Ofsted and the LT were there 48 hours later.
It seems that they haven't felt it necessary in this instance. I don't know why. But the system can and does work. The fact that it didn't for you is a great pity.
I have addressed your second point at length earlier.

So to be clear, you do not believe the press or public opinion are regulators of public institutions, and that they should simply be introspective and regulate themselves?

It's hard to see how democracy could survive such a deferential attitude.

And as far as regulating themselves, yes it would be lovely if they did that. It would be lovely if everyone did the right thing all the time, in which case no laws or government would be necessary. But they don't, which is why societies have police, regulating authorities, the press etc to hold people and institutions accountable.

I don't fear that. I think everyone has a right to speak to have their point of view listened to. Unfortunately because this has ended up in the press, and in a newspaper with a political axe to grind on academies, everyone hasn't hitherto had the right to speak and be heard. There are alot of people for whom the school has been largely positive, which is I think the best that can be said for one's school years. I hope more will come forward with their more positive and measured stories. Generally speaking the positive majority tend to be quiet where those with a complaint have more reason to speak up. Right now those positives need to make their voices heard too, to provide some balance.
I think those harshly criticising the school currently may think they are trying to improve it. The jury is out for me on whether that is going to be the case.

@Jodeg 'Largely positive' is not an excuse for abuses of power. We now have over 200 people who have come forward with complaints. If this were, say, an NHS Trust or a business, there would be a hard push for an enquiry. So why would anyone think an Academy school should be exempt?

If nothing is going on, the school will be vindicated. If there is bad and abusive practice, it will be rooted out, as it should be.

The links you posted described policies whereby blazers have to be worn in corridors. No schools enforce the wearing of blazers in hot classrooms.

“And because you are one of the many who keep insisting on the false dichotomy of anarchy and chaos vs batshit crazy discipline which crushes kids' souls with petty capricious unsubstantiated rules”

@ParentOfOne - you must be confusing me with someone else. I said near the start of this thread that I would never have sent my little darlings to Mossbourne - 2 of them are very well behaved rule followers and it may have made them anxious. I also have 1 with SEND and another who had chronic fatigue following anemia and glandular fever, so it is not like I am inexperienced with teenage difficulties either.
I sent mine to superselective grammars, where the pastoral care has been good, the rules are not draconian, because they do not have to be, but the workload and homework is quite a lot. And yes, we also get parents who complain about that, including some who tutor for years whose kids then struggle with the pace.

I also have to admit that I have never ever not filled in the Ofsted parent questionnaire - and that applies to all 4 DC. I always do it as a matter of principle so I do not understand why others do not. Any difficulties I try and sort out with a teacher, then head of year/department, following the policies and up the chain all the way. And in writing, if need be.
The article in the Guardian says practices at this school will now be investigated but that it is quite anomalous. So I assume people are happy with the fact it will be investigated and lessons learnt.

“So to be clear, you do not believe the press or public opinion are regulators of public institutions, and that they should simply be introspective and regulate themselves?”

@KillerTomato7 - no, I said Ofsted inspected this school just last year. And the regulators etc and the DFE should be in charge. There are checks and balances meant to be in place so the question is why did they not work? Or did those doing this campaign just not follow the usual route? Or did they and not like the outcome? It is confusing.