A Leeds headteacher has responded to pupils protesting over his school’s new toilet policy, telling parents they haven’t got the “full story”.
Chris Stokes, Principal of The Farnley Academy, recounted the dramatic scenes outside the secondary school where his students were “chanting” this morning (February 24). He also aimed to clear up a few alleged falsehoods, hitting back on claims that “all toilets are locked during lesson time”.
The controversial policy “disgusted” parents who have said it is "taking away their human rights". The school, which is part of the GORSE Academies Trust, is alleged to have put in place a policy where all but one set of toilets are locked during lesson time. Pupils have to get a note to enter and a member of staff stands guarding the door.
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Parents were not pleased with the headteacher’s words, accusing Mr Stokes of “calling our kids liars” and branding his letter “nonsense” and “laughable”. Below is the full letter Mr Stokes emailed to parents and the reaction from angry parents.
Mr Stokes’ letter reads: “Dear Parent / Carer, I hope that this letter finds you well. As you will no doubt be aware, this morning, a small group of students decided that they would engage in what they believed was a protest.
"The protest was allegedly in response to the locking of toilet doors during lesson time. Firstly, within this letter, I need to be completely clear that it is absolutely not the case that all toilets are locked during lesson time. At all times, at least one block of boys and one block of girls' toilets are open. Our decision to not have all toilets open during lesson time was taken following two very serious safeguarding events. It was not a decision that we took lightly, but it was a necessary decision to keep all students safe.
“Being aware of the planned protest, I asked members of staff to be on hand in the canteen with pens and paper so that students could write down their views, which I would then personally respond to. When the first bell went at 8.28 am, around 1300 students who were already on the school site went to form time without issue.
“Following on from this, a group of students who were walking together to school began chanting as they came down the main drive. Once on site, these students were spoken to, reminded that we have mechanisms for feedback through the Student Leadership Team, and asked to go to form. The overwhelming majority complied with this request, and we thanked them for doing so. Sadly, however, a very small minority of students did not comply with this request, nor did they wish to talk about their views at that time.
“As a school, we listen to student feedback, and make positive changes as a result. I would politely ask that all parents/carers remember that what is presented to you by your child, may not always represent the full story, partly because they may not be aware of all the information surrounding a particular decision. It is clearly not the case that we lock all toilets. This would be completely unreasonable.
“Over the coming days, we will seek to explore with our young people the action that was taken today.
“Our responsive PSHE curriculum will now be adapted to ensure that all students are able to further understand how they can make their voice heard in a constructive way. I would like to thank you for your ongoing support, and I hope that the information above has helped to provide some additional context. As always, please do get in touch with our Community Engagement Officer team if you would like to discuss any aspect in more detail.”
“Yours faithfully, Mr C Stokes, Principal”
'Laughable,' rage parents
The head’s letter was shared on public Facebook group The Farnley Academy Friends. Parents deplored Mr Stokes’ claims.
Faith Vescovi said: “Basically he’s calling our kids liars.” Ruby Laws said: “It’s laughable.”
Parent Jem G said: “So email gone out from Mr Stokes. Anybody else read it and thought ‘shut up’? Always got an answer for not blaming the school or teachers for things.
“It’s always the students! Maybe if they listened to the students more then things like this and other problems the school has wouldn’t happen so much.”
Joanne Page said: “Just read the email, what a load of s***. The kids do not lie and the fact so many kids are saying the same thing confirms it’s true.
“Sorry Mr Stokes but you are doing your usual avoiding the issue and will do nothing and come Monday they will be changes.” Chris Croft said: “That email is pure nonsense, I walked round the school after confronting him whilst collecting my daughter who has now been suspended.
“He told me to my face ALL toilets where open yet when we walked through that was not the case, the place is like a prison all toilets have locks on them and the only one open was Brontë toilet upstairs, which also had locks on.”
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