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

how very short sighted when education is lifelong. a child needs to be mentally and physically healthy post 16-18.
a happy childhood and school experience will make going onward to further education and the workplace all around a better life experience.
what is needed is identification and services available to those children who cause disruption (fit for purpose sen or mh services, smaller more intimate schools). 1 way traffic in a hallway, ties and blazers and the inability to logically understand why someone might be late is simply ridiculous.

Like it or not, GCSE and A level grades are very important for life chances (particularly for DC from disadvantaged backgrounds). We can argue all day about whether that is right, but that’s the system we have. In my view, it is not acceptable that students at these schools are achieving poorer grades than they are capable of due to poor behaviour of others.

It Is a luxury viewpoint of middle class parents who have access to private tutors and other advantages to prioritise ideology over improving behaviour so that all DC have equal chance to achieve.

Perhaps some of these complaining parents would like to see how ‘happy’ their DC are at the other Essex school I mentioned upthread, where DC are running around corridors assaulting each other and staff. Not coincidentally, students at that school achieve two grades worse than they should in each GCSE.

There are plenty of schools in Essex without draconian behaviour policies who get excellent results.
It isn’t a choice between two extremes despite your continued attempts to make it appear so.

No there aren’t. The head at the DC’s school previously specialised in turning around ‘sink’ schools and he always says a short, sharp behaviour crackdown needs to be implemented in order to fix these schools where behaviour is out of control, followed by strict enforcement.

Your statement that there are zero schools in Essex which have excellent results without draconian policies requires evidence. Alternatively you could abandon your ridiculous zero sum thinking, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I simply cannot understand why someone who otherwise writes well is hung up on such a basic logical fallacy. It’s either trolling or some kind of psychological block, and either way I can’t think you’ll make much progress through further engagement.

From the short clip, it seems that all the guy is saying is that the schools that he has taken over were failing students, because they were too lax on discipline, and that schools shouldn't focus on the "happiness" of their students to the detriment of their academic achievement.

If there were nothing more to it, well, I would agree 100%.

However, when said by the CEO of the Mossbourne Trust, this speech becomes much more sinister. It is hard to shake off the suspicion that what he really means is that he will focus on academic results at all costs, he will ignore concerns on safeguarding and mental health, etc etc

Again, in the past boarding schools and/or schools with corporal punishments achieved good academic results, while absolutely abusing and traumatising children, leaving them scarred for life. So fuck that.

Again, only those in bad faith can present the false dichotomy of draconian discipline vs chaos. The world, including the UK, is full of schools which achieve good academic results with strict but fair policies, without going down the strict and batshit crazy rabbithole.

@TreeSquirrel comment hit me like a page from an abusers handbook; man “I’m the expert, you need punishing, and I’ll be watching you (code for looking for other oppertunities to abuse you).
I’m sorry but the phrasing you used really is similar to dv abusers to their victims.

@GildedRage yes, saying or implying that there is nothing wrong with shouting at and terrorising children, and that only children who misbehave get that treatment, is like saying that a wife who gets hit by her husband deserves it, and that wives who behave don't get hit.

I'm not gonna say what I think about these people because I don't want to be banned or sued for libel, but I'm hoping it's easy to infer.

The fact that Essex has some of the highest performing schools in the country (and has for many, many years - I attended one as it happens) is lost on @TreeSquirrel
Not a single school in my city has rules like one of these academies. None of them are like Lord of the Flies.

It is disturbing to realise that so many people measure a school's success by exam results and academic performance without considering other vital elements.

It is short sighted and draconian.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8y87yv1dvo

I don't get it. The CEO used to turn up at MVPA in his Jaguar. He is the Director of a few educational companies (on Companies House) that are making good money. Now he says a company he runs is in deficit? I am sure is all legit, but still a bit depressing.

It is depressing. It completely misrepresents the research. Michael Charles once wrote a good piece on TA support and how LAs misrepresent the research. Sadly, many LAs and some schools say what this CEO has. Even more believe it, but don’t say it.

Mossbourne have only recently taken over these schools, so any deficit will have arisen from previous regimes.

I’m sure the new headteacher will work with the CEO to ensure spending is focused on teaching and learning, as it sounds like the schools have accumulated very high numbers of ancillary staff which has not improved outcomes.

I suspect we will see some turnover in the student bodies, as some parents who are unwilling to support the new standards and preferred the chaotic behaviour that took place previously move on, or are moved on, elsewhere. That will be no bad thing as I imagine that will take out many of the students who have been behaving poorly.

Thankyou, that makes sense.

How much does a CEO like this guy make? Are we talking 160k/180k?

The MAT has a duty to make sure that the schools’ resources are being spent to the maximum benefit of all pupils, including those with and without SEN. Clearly that hasn’t been happening under the previous regime.

Some of them make considerably more than that.