An independent safeguarding review has raised serious concerns about Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA), a leading comprehensive school in England. The internal report, written by Sir Alan Wood, warned of a “particularly harmful” exclusionary culture that targets vulnerable students. MVPA cultivates a strong tradition of academic excellence. Yet, according to the review, this success might be achieved at too great an expense to some students.
MVPA is the creative arts secondary school of the Hackney-based Mossbourne Federation. Today it has received accolades as one of the top 5% of high-performing schools in the country. The review further reveals that around 150 students have opted out of the academy. They point to punitive disciplinary methods, inadequate provision for children with special needs, and lack of communication following a recent management takeover as the failures that led them to pull out.
Sir Alan Wood noted that while many students thrive in MVPA’s environment, others are experiencing significant harm due to its rigid and inflexible behaviour system. The review found that pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds were “around twice as likely to receive a sanction” compared to their peers, raising concerns about inequitable treatment within the school.
Jim Gamble is the chair of City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership. He underscored the important importance of strong accountability from these senior, central federation governing members. He announced that they need to “develop a plan” to fix all the problems highlighted in the report.
“Discipline through fear is not preparing young people for life as confident, independent adults,” – Sir Alan Wood
The review’s findings strike a chord with parents and former students. One of those parents, Andy Wilson, told us that the problems found in the review were the ones he expected to hear. On his very first day at Mossbourne Community Academy, his autistic child was brutally enforced through draconian disciplinary apparatus. He got shouted down for having long hair. Wilson shared how his neurodiverse son accrued “10 detentions in one week” for behaviors related to his neurodiversity.
The council acknowledged that some parents had raised similar concerns regarding discipline and felt their worries were not being taken seriously. An anonymous teacher featured in the review revealed scary training practices at MVPA. Employees were trained in methods to make youth that come into the facility feel scared.
“This term, ‘healthy fear,’ was explicitly used as the title of training sessions provided to staff,” – Anonymous teacher
One of MVPA’s former students spoke about their devastating time at MVPA. They only began to self-harm in Year 9 because being constantly belittled by teachers, if they didn’t get the grade, meant that they felt useless.
“During Year 9 I started to self-harm because the teachers made me feel as though I didn’t deserve to live because of my grades,” – Former pupil
This review is unfortunately a reflection of the pervasive culture at MVPA. Gamble raised a more alarming concern. Yet a small but significant minority of students is failing on a system that values their academic achievement more than their humanity.
“What we’ve identified here is a small but significant minority of children who are going to a school where the balance is wrong,” – Jim Gamble
Sir Alan Wood firmly asserted that true excellence cannot be achieved at the expense of students’ mental health and emotional well-being.
“Academic excellence that traumatises some pupils is not true excellence,” – Sir Alan Wood
Now, MVPA’s leadership has a moral obligation to take long-overdue, urgent action to completely reform the organization’s disciplinary practices. They must establish a positive atmosphere for every single student. More than anything, the review calls for accountability. It challenges educators to envisage real, impactful shifts in their practice to foster an educational ecosystem that champions students’ learning and wellness.
“You cannot hide that type of behaviour behind academic excellence,” – Jim Gamble
As the school community grapples with these revelations, parents, educators, and stakeholders await a response from MVPA’s leadership on how they plan to address these serious concerns.
