Parent, Worcestershire

In Year 9 my child was watching a performance with the rest of her school in their arts centre during the day. A group of Year 11 boys sat behind her and proceeded to rub her shoulders play with her hair and call her horrible names. They then told her that if she told anyone they would rape her and beat her up. They did exactly the same to her friend sat next to her. My daughter and friend reported it to a teacher and was told that if she didn't know the names of the boys then they couldn't do anything. My daughter came home that day in tears and school left me a message saying she seemed to be upset. I contacted the school after she told me what had happened, and they ignored me. We engaged Early Help who liaised with the school and school promised to do weekly check-ins with my daughter and engage pastoral care to help her. Early Help decided that was ok and we no longer needed help, and school did none of what they had promised. My daughter was too terrified to go back and was de-registered shortly after.

My daughter was de-registered and would now be Year 11. Over the past year she has passed 4 GCSEs and will be taking another 3 this Summer. She is doing brilliantly. The school has been commented on several times by other parents for how they hide/ignore any sort of bullying/SEN or anything else that would affect their outstanding OFSTED rating. Home education was not our first choice but it was our best choice and we both wish we'd done it earlier.

Overhaul it completely. Bring the curriculum up to date. Teach life skills. Let children learn in different ways. Come down hard on bullying. Listen to the pupils. Promote good mental health and help the children who are struggling. Focus on getting the best out of each pupil as an individual and put the child first. Attendance and exam scores are not the most important things - happy healthy children being supported to try their best is.