‘Riot’ at school sparks call for DfE to step in

THE Government must immediately intervene in a row at Holland Park school after claims that pupils “rioted” over plans for it to join an academy chain, a council said.

Sarah Newman, head of Children’s Services at Kensington and Chelsea council, said the situation has escalated to such a level that she wants the Department for Education to step in.

The dispute broke out after it was announced the school was set to join United Learning, the UK’s biggest academy chain. Some parents and pupils want the school to join forces with Kensington Aldridge Academy instead. Ms Newman said teachers have expressed no confidence in the governing body and parents are threatening legal action. She added: “This week a teacher has left the school in tears and more than 200 pupils were involved in a riot to protest against the future plans being made about their school and to express their concern about their teachers.”

The Holland Park School Parent Collective said the incident was not a “riot”. Its website stated that a silent student “sit-in” protest was cancelled, but “unfortunately a number of students did not get the message…while other students took the opportunity to play up and encourage others to join them, run around, throw water around, miss lessons and be disruptive.” It said “teachers decided to call the police” and “order was restored quite quickly.”

The school has also faced scrutiny over claims of a “toxic” working culture.

A spokesman for the DfE said that after a “thorough process” the trust board “concluded that the best multi-academy trust to support the school’s needs is United Learning.They are now undertaking a period of stakeholder engagement led bythe board, including with parents, before a formal proposal is submitted to the department.”