A struggling school which brought in ‘Britain’s toughest headteacher’ to improve discipline has come under fire for hardline tactics such as branding children in detention ‘detainees’. Hackney New School in inner-city east London has issued more than 7,500 detentions since the start of the year – 80 a day. The Dalston secondary was taken over by the Community Schools Trust in November 2019 after a damning Ofsted report which raised ‘concerns about behaviour and safety’. He was labelled the country’s toughest headteacher in 2017 for his methods of teaching at a school in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It’s oppressing.’Simon Elliott, chief executive of the Community Schools Trust, said he accepted some of the language being used was ‘completely unacceptable’.

Source: Daily Mail April 30, 2021 22:00 UTC