Fury at school’s closure

DISCOVERY School students forced to change in the middle of their GCSEs have been left “furious”, parents say.

They will be able to finish this term’s exams at the school, but will have to study elsewhere next year – even if they are halfway through GCSEs or A Levels.

One mum claimed parents felt the standard of teaching had “drastically” plummeted over the past six months, but the closure had still come as a shock.

She said: “My daughter is very upset but also furious because the work has all been done for nothing.

“Someone surely would have known before today that the school was being closed.

“Now we have the job of trying to get her into another school who can offer her the subjects she needs for her future career, which is mainly maths and science.”

Aside from the worry about whether other schools would offer the subjects her daughter needed, she said the teenager had already started coursework which might not be usable in a new school.

She added: “It is very disruptive and she’s in the mind of why bother now doing work because she’ll just have to start afresh in a new school.”

Another mother, whose daughter is also in Year 10 at the school, said: “We’ve had no warning of this possibility. I did have some concerns about the delivery of the curriculum, especially English, which I had discussed with the principal before.

“I was assured everything was in hand. We live in Northumberland and chose the school specifically for its STEM curriculum, which I don’t think she’ll be able to follow anywhere else.

“She’s going to end up in any school that has a place, may end up having to drop back a year – I can’t see how else a whole new set of exams would work – and we feel totally let down. My daughter is in pieces.”

The Discovery School said: “We regret this is the outcome but it is clear the school is simply not working for students, parents and staff.

“Our first duty is to the pupils who are entitled to be safe, well and to get the best education they can.

“We realise this will be upsetting for pupils and parents – and for staff who will be made redundant – however we cannot allow the situation to continue and believe that in the long term this will be for the best.

“It is very early days and in the next few weeks there will be a lot of activity to ensure that the process of closure, and finding new schools for pupils is as straight-forward as possible.”