Parents launch petition for head teacher to resign

A petition by parents that called for the head teacher of a secondary school to resign has gained more than 500 signatures.

The petition named Jane Buggins who was only appointed head teacher of The Parker E-Act Academy in Daventry, Northamptonshire, in June.

Ofsted, the office for standards in education, said the academy was "outstanding in the leadership category". The parents that launched the petition claimed there had been a “decline in academic progress” and that pupils had been subjected to increased detentions, strict uniform rules and were not permitted loo breaks.

A spokesperson for E-ACT, the trust that oversees the school, said it was "disappointed and saddened" to see a public petition targeting one of its "dedicated head teachers".

The petition also alleged that students with special educational needs were not being supported.

A spokesperson from E-ACT trust said that the school was "committed to listening" to parents and had held one-to-one meetings with more than 40 families during the half-term break to discuss how to “best implement these changes”.

Vicki, from Daventry, said that her son, who is in Year 7, has “been subjected to things he’d never seen in his life”.

She said her child was not allowed to go to the toilet which meant he “couldn’t concentrate” in class.

Vicki added she was incorrectly told her child was missing from school, after the day had ended. She added that her son missed registration because he was taken out of class to write a statement about a fight he had witnessed.

She was worried about the amount of fighting taking place in the school and felt that the academy was “nitpicking” over small issues instead of tackling violence and bullying.

"Every day these kids are getting into fights and I don’t want my son seeing any of the kids acting this way. He should be safe but I don’t think he is," she said.

Some other parents do not agree with the petition, including Angela, from Daventry.

She said she did not sign the petition because "it’s not fair to pin everything" on the head teacher.

She said: "The issues people have been raising have been going on ever since my child joined the school and she’s in Year 9."

Angela believed these issues stemmed from E-ACT, the trust which controls the school, and not the staff.

She said: "My daughter has said to me on multiple occasions that lessons aren’t getting started because the teachers are not able to get the class under control.

"I don’t feel like she’s coming home full of intelligence every day."

The spokesperson for the E-ACT trust said parents with concerns should "use the school’s established complaints process, which means that any issues can be addressed promptly and appropriately".

It added: "Our trust oversees 38 academies. All those to have been inspected whilst with E-ACT have been graded either 'good' or 'outstanding' for leadership and management by Ofsted.

"We are confident in the exceptional leadership at Parker Academy, recognised by Ofsted as 'outstanding' in this area."

Amendment: The article has been amended to make it clear the headteacher was only appointed in June and added a further detail about Ofsted’s finding.

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