Staff at a London academy instilled a “climate of fear” among pupils, with a drive for academic success likely to have harmed vulnerable children including those with special needs, according to a damning independent investigation.
The report by Sir Alan Wood, one of the country’s foremost experts in children’s services, found that staff at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA) routinely used measures “designed to humiliate pupils”, frequently shouting at them and isolating them in corridors as part of “a harsh and damaging disciplinary culture”.
