It’s little wonder that parents at Mossbourne Victoria Park academy (MVPA) are calling on the leadership of the school “to change course or be replaced” (London academy staff instilled ‘climate of fear’ among pupils, 9 December). It was a year ago that the Guardian’s John Harris outlined the details of an investigation carried out by the Observer into two Mossbourne academy schools, including MVPA. It had found, as Sir Alan Wood has, that for many years horrendous tactics have been used to enforce discipline. Many staff were appalled and left, with the final straw for many being a teachers’ training session entitled “healthy fear”.
Harris concluded then that there were “big questions about how academies and so-called free schools are scrutinised and overseen”, and it is certainly difficult to explain how Ofsted inspectors, regardless of the schools’ good examination results, could fail to notice both the appalling ways discipline was being enforced and the shocking after‑effects. Both schools were awarded the “outstanding” grade.
Bernie Evans
Liverpool
