A father claims smoking, drugs and violence are rife at the school where his son was “severely disfigured” in a vicious assault.
Jamie Brown was too frightened to return to the classroom at the Sir John Gleed School for more than six weeks after he was left bruised and with missing teeth after an attack in the school’s foyer.
The 14-year-old is still undergoing extensive dental work.
His attacker received a caution from police and was excluded – but was back on the premises the very next day at the school’s Haydn unit for youngsters who cannot, for whatever reason, be taught in the mainstream.
As the two boys caught the same school bus, Jamie continued to be “intimidated” by his attacker and felt he was the one being “punished” because he was forced to wait in a classroom away from his friends between the end of school and the bus’s arrival.
Nick, who lives in the Deepings, said: “The way we have been treated is disgusting.
“I have had just one five minute phone call from the headteacher Janet Daniels since it happened and I got the distinct impression I was just supposed to wait until the school became an academy and then everything would get better – but it hasn’t.
“You see the kids come out of school, half of them not in uniform, lots are smoking and then you see them stop at the gates and roll up what I can only guess is a cannabis joint.
“There seem to be a lot of scuffles between pupils as well, although I haven’t heard of anyone being severely disfigured like my son.
“The boy who did it was wearing metal toecaps, which should not be allowed in school.
“Jamie lost one tooth, another was snapped in half and another was derooted.
“He couldn’t eat properly for four weeks, just soup and liquified stuff.
“After all that I would expect the headteacher would sit down with me to reassure me, but apart from one phone call – which only happened because I demanded it – I haven’t heard anything from her.
“I really don’t like the way the school is going, it needs Ofsted to go in to sort it out.”
Mr Brown said the only support has come from the school’s head of year nine Mary Pitcher, who he “could not praise enough”.
Last week we reported how another parent Rebecca Thirkell was waiting to hear from Ofsted after she raised serious concerns about “serious incidents relating to violence” at the school.
In that story Mrs Daniels said she was aware Ofsted had been contacted and a process was underway to look into the concerns.
She admitted there was still work to do, but said the school was strong on discipline.
Following Mr Brown’s comments, Mrs Daniels said she stood by those comments.
“She said: “In Mr Brown’s case the incident was very unpleasant but it was dealt with thoroughly, he knew what was happening and understood the decision to stop the other boy being permanently excluded, which he agreed was reasonable.
“We felt it was out of character and there has been no reoccurence of the problem.”
She said if parents had concerns about illegal activities such as drugs they should be reported to the school and police, but said no one had so far come to her with specific information, and added that repeated “unfounded claims” were having a negative impact on pupils.