We are parents and carers of current and former students at Mossbourne Community academy and Mossbourne Victoria Park academy, including parents of children with special needs. We feel the articles in the Observer do not represent the spectrum of experiences and opinions of parents, students and teachers (“Top London academies face mass claims of emotional harm as Whitehall acts on crisis” and “School in leading Mossbourne academy trust faces safeguarding review”).
To give just one example, the Department for Education has (we understand from the school) already investigated a series of allegations and found no evidence to support the concerns about safeguarding practices. Based on DfE school performance data, MVPA and MCA ranked in the top 10 out of 6,542 schools for “Progress 8” [progress across eight qualifications for pupils aged 14-16]. For schools where over 35% of students are disadvantaged, both academies are in the top five. In addition, MCA ranks first in the country for schools with over 50% disadvantaged students by Progress 8. SEND students and low prior attainers do exceptionally well.
Mossbourne can and does change the trajectory of young people’s lives for the better. They are successful schools with brilliant and committed teachers. Their ethos of providing a level playing field for all children from all backgrounds is commendable. MCA is on the site of a previously failed school, and both schools have a very mixed demographic of children from the local community, providing excellent teaching for their students and aspiring to the success of every single one of them.
While the rules can be strict and firm, and there is room for improvement in some areas, the vast majority of the children are well adjusted, happy and well cared for. No school is perfect, and we welcome the opportunity to suggest and support some changes in the way the schools operate.
Liesel Evans, Polly Jeanneret, Louise Nowell Abi Meats, Adela Smalley, Akimi Asai, Aleksandra Zabielska-Klos, Alex Cleave, Alex Cullen, Alexandra Shipp, Alexis Joachin, Alice Cicolini Strazzeri, Alison Noor, Alison Potter, Alpesh Popat, Amelie Noor, Amely Vega, Amit Tailor, Ana Monzon, Andrew Mottershead, Andy Joslin, Andy Worwood, Andy Groarke, Anita Reid, Anna Jobson, Anna McHugh, Anna Motzo, Anne Soward, Bart Smith, Beata Chadbourn, Ben Matthews, Benjamin Linsley, Berengere Dominy, Bettina Forster, Bettina Maidment, Beverley Duckworth, Camilla Cullen, Carole O’Leary, Caroline Giulias, Caroline Teo, Catharine Baden-Daintree, Catherine Lorigan, Cavan Clerkin, Celine Ambard, Charlotte Cleave, Charlotte denn Cirrone, Chris Masson, Chris Ogden, Christine Gaspar, Claire Starza-Allen, Clare Spillman, Coletter Bowens, Colin Pennington, Connie Harrison, Cris de Guia, Crista Fitzhenry, Dan Betts, Dan Burr, Dan Robinson, Dan Owen, Daniel Berhane, Daniel Klos, Daniel Noor, Daniel Wood, Daphne Faucher, Darren Bradbury, Darren Frendo, David Bone, David Heron, David Jackson, David McHugh, David Rickard, Dawn Kerr, Delwar Siddiqui, Demetria Alibert, Des Williams, Devya Patel, Elfrida Boma, Emir Hukic, Enrique Martinez, Ernesto Leal, Fabio De Francescantonio, Fabio Williams, Fabrizio Diliso, Fabrizio Ghiandai, Fanoula Smith, Fatbardha Malo, Felix Berenskoetter, Fiona Lamb, Fiona Roach Canning, Flabine Yapi, Frances Navaratnem, Francesca Boardman, Frauke Westgate, Gabriel Prokofiev, Gabriella Urban, Gaby Ellis Bone, Gareth McConnell, Gemma Austin Popat, Gemma Frendo, Georgina Colegate-Stone, Gerard Gibson, Graeme Phillips, Graham Ball, Gregory Reynolds, Guy Humphreys, Haji Munye, Hannah Parham, Harriet Gladwell-Phillips, Heather Johnston, Helen Davis, Helen Prior, Hugh Johnston, Ian Holmes, Ikuko Kondo, Isabelle Ces, Ita Langan, Jackie O’Sullivan, Jacopo Torriti, Jacqueline Leckenby, Jaime Bishop, James Gowland, James Napier, James Twiston-Davies, James Webber, Jane Sanders, Jemma Cameron, Jeremy Miller, Jess Crowe, Jez Mundy, Jignesh Patel, Jo De Guia, Joanne Groarke, Joanne Moore, Joel Belsham, Jon Hawkins, Jonathan Hull, Jose Da Luz, Jules Pipe, Julia Humphreys, Julian Cirrone, Justine Pritchard, Justine Sanders, Kamalini Hull, Karen Coster, Karen Marsden, Karin Ollivierre, Kate Highton, Kate Reddick, Katharina Grun, Katherine Gough, Katie Walmsley, Katy Worwood, Kerry Bishop, Kevin Hawkins, Khadija Nakmouch, Kim Ruddy, Kristal Bayliss, Laura Foulds, Laura Redman, Lawerence Hutchison, Leighann Heron, Lena Corner, Lenalisa Fornberg, Leo Burley, Liat Ogden, Liesel Evans, Linh Vu, Linnie Mclarty, Lisa Gowland, Liz Bosanquet, Liz Melenik, Liza Hooper, Louise McMahon, Louise Nowell, Luan Malo, Lucca Bertali, Lucia Campagnuolo, Luciana Britton Newell, Lucy Brown, Lucy Daniel, Luke Barker, Lydia Barras, Madison denn Carew, Makila Nsika-Nkaya, Malin Eliasson, Marc Jeanneret, Maria Atherton, Maribel Mantecon, Mark Hanley, Marta Foresti, Martha Georgiou Kamfona, Martin Beckett, Mary Sue Masson, Matilde Nardelli, Matt West, Matthias Bruene, Melissa Lau, Meika Dulman, Michael Buurman, Michael Stanley, Michaela Gibson, Mike Gough, Mike Hooper, Milo Johnston, Miranda West, Miria Harris, Moyra McAllister, Nadja Lavin, Nadja Maniscalchi, Natalie Chung, Nathalie Romang, Nathaniel Ashford, Neil Moffitt, Nia Lessard, Nicola Dunne, Nicola Whiteley, Nicolas McGeagh, Olayinka Sanni, Olga Melacze, Oli van der Vijver, Oliver Bosanquet, Oliver Harud, Oscar Cameron, Paolo Vigliotta, Paul Marsden, Paul Mules, Paula Williams, Paulina Arce-Casillas, Peter Ashcroft, Philip Halliday, Philippa Halliday, Phillipa Robinson, Pinny Grylls, Pippa Gueterbock, Polly Jeanneret, Pravina Tailor, Rachel Williams, Raminta Diliso, Rebecca French, Renu Begum, Richard Theunissen, Rizwana Siddiqui, Rob Bowers, Robin Brunson, Robin Hopkins, Rod Campbell-Taylor, Roi Dulman, Rosie Colegate-Stone, Ros Owen, Ruby Wolk, Rupert Meats, Ruth Fitzgerald, Sabrina Reiss-Labroche, Sam Chatterton Dickson, Sam Crane, Sam Halliday, Sandy Bowers, Sarah Boorn, Sarah Leipciger, Sean McMahon, Sean Westgate, Shaheda Saleem, Shalona Willie, Sharon Buckley, Shazia Ali, Siena Pakington, Silvana Bellini, Simon Bayliss, Simon Boma, Simon Buckley, Sophie Oliver, Soraya Aslam, Stefanie Guselli, Stephen Coster, Stephen Perrin, Steve Fitzgerald, Susannah Barker, Suzie Watson, Sylvia Delacour, Tanya Reynolds Ball, Thomas Kirkman, Tim Johnston, Tina Johnston, Toby Sanders, Tom Fyans, Tom Harris, Vadim Charles, Valerie Charlene Lujilibana, Veronica Hanley, Victoria Burns, Victoria Harud, Victoria Holmes, Viktoriia Russell, Violeta Pelemis, Virginie Borsa, Wendy Robinson, Yao Wu, Yos Noor, Zoe Bertali, Rose Stallard, Paul Watson, Karem Ibrahim, Simon Piper, Eva Appelbaum, Nora Russell, Kirsty Geoghegan, Helen Murray, Katherine Lorigan, Giuseppe Pollifrone, Rubina Aga, Helen Asefaw, Dan Buckley, Paul Forster, Deborah Forster
Some parents at the Mossbourne Victoria Park academy say that “while the rules can be draconian… the vast majority of children are well adjusted, happy and well cared for”. How can it be appropriate for school rules to ever be “draconian”? Such rules would appear to be more suited to an institution where severe punishment is the norm, not a place where nurturing of the whole child is the focus. I cannot imagine how children could be well adjusted, happy or well cared for in such an environment.
Richard Ellis
Stoke-on-Trent
Syrian salvation
Simon Tisdall’s article (“The world failed to save Syria. Now its people must be free to chart their own path”, Comment) does not address a fundamental question: save Syria from what?
Syria was a fractured nation, especially in the 13 years after the civil war, where the tectonic plates of culture, religion and ideology were in a state of continuous collision. Under the Assad regime, we saw how brutal that was. The Alawite minority, to which the Assad family belonged, were allegedly responsible for about 87% of all civilian deaths. Terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and Isis flourished.
Tisdall can decry the role of Syria’s near neighbours and distant superpowers and perhaps there is some justification in calling these players “duplicitous”, but nothing compares to the shocking brutality of the treatment meted out upon the Syrian people, by Syrian people. We have witnessed scenes within the prisons of Syria identical to those in the concentration camps. Salvation is not within the gift of external forces, it is within the Syrian people.
David Green
Cambridge, New Zealand
Thwarting the AI cheats
I have sympathy for Will Coldwell feeling his first-class degree is of less value thanks to others being able to cheat with AI (“I received a first but it felt tainted and undeserved: inside the university AI cheating crisis”, Magazine). The answer is to reduce the weight of coursework in assessing the grade of degree. When I was a student in the 1970s, almost all the assessment was based on exams and a small portion on coursework, which for science degrees is a research project for which AI is of little use.
Dr Kirstine Oswald
Bonnyrigg, Midlothian
Lessons from Notre Dame
Rowan Moore’s thoughts on the restoration of Notre Dame cathedral (“A cathedral of light rises from the ashes”, New Review) provoked me to reflect on the plight of the Glasgow School of Art. Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s magnificent building was nearly destroyed by two fires in 2014 and 2018. Public consultations found overwhelming support for a faithful restoration, based on Mackintosh’s original designs, but little progress has been made. Sadly, it remains a shattered shell, wrapped in copious plastic sheeting, and stabilised by scaffolding. Ten years on from the first fire, it stands just off Sauchiehall Street, looking more like a bombsite than an architectural marvel.
Planning for the reconstruction of Notre Dame started immediately after the fire in 2019 and President Macron has kept his promise to have the cathedral restored within five years. Shamefully, there is no sign of any urgency or similar political will in Scotland.
Mike Pender
Cardiff
Restoring trust takes time
Torsten Bell believes the loss of trust in politicians owes as much to their failure to provide elementary civic necessities as it does to their inability to honour promises (“How do we bring joy this Christmas? Build homes, mend potholes, restore trust”, Comment).
Labour’s plans for taxation, housebuilding and reinvigorating public services rest on a different perception of the function of government. The public, however, have for years been drip-fed the lie that the services they rely on are too expensive for government to provide, that all taxation is a burden, and that the proper function of government is merely to steward business relationships. Until Labour is brave enough, explicitly, to rewrite the social contract that Tory ideology has effaced, it will always be held hostage to the myth that taxation is robbery and Labour are political bandits.
Paul McGilchrist
Cromer, Norfolk
Growing old wisely
With regard to your Ask Philippa column (“I’m almost 80 and there’s a void in my life hobbies can’t fill”, Magazine), growing old means saying, “At least I have done that”. Being quiet and having time to think is the main blessing, although it is boring that talking to doctors becomes a habit. I think young people should adopt that saying to ensure they have no regrets later.
Mary Routh
Rhu, Argyll and Bute