Newbury Headteacher defends "lockdown" amid protests

St Bart's pupils rally against new measure leading to some exclusions

The headteacher of a Newbury school has defended what some pupils have called a “freedom ban” and “lockdown” which sparked days of protest last week.

Pupils at St Bartholomew’s School, in Andover Road, were informed last week that during Activity Time – between 1pm and 1.30pm – those making use of one of the main school areas, the Hub, would not be allowed to leave unless undertaking another activity.

The school said the measure was introduced after too many pupils were gathering there, making it potentially unsafe.

The measure led to a two-day protest last Wednesday and Thursday, when some pupils disobeyed the instruction, refused to attend classes and posted “hurtful messages” about staff members and the school, via social media.

The protest also led to a number of short-term exclusions for some pupils.

One sixth form student contacted the Newbury Weekly News revealing that a petition had been drawn up following the “extreme protest”.

The pupil said: “Since its introduction it has caused the school to descend fast into a place of serious conflict that simply did not exist before.

“The situation is ridiculous at St Bart’s and the sooner it is stopped the better.”

Headteacher Julia Mortimore said the scheme had been misinterpreted.

She said: “Recently, an increasing number of students have been collecting in the Hub in groups and running around and this has caused some concern, as it potentially does not make for a safe environment.

“Therefore, this week we simply informed students that if they choose to be in the Hub, they must be seated and not moving around unless they were moving on to another activity, to wait in the lunch queue or going to the toilet for example.

“We also opened up another block to give students more space to sit and gather in.

“Unfortunately, a number of students have, unhelpfully, taken it upon themselves to interpret this in many different ways – even calling it a lockdown.”

She added: “As highlighted in our Ofsted inspection last year, ‘the behaviour and safety of pupils is outstanding’.

“Our aim is to maintain a calm and harmonious atmosphere across a large school site throughout our school day and students can enjoy a wealth of activities on offer during Activity Time and after school.

“As observed by Ofsted in February 2015 ‘the school employs a range of completely successful sanctions to improve behaviour of the very small number of students whose behaviour does not meet high expectations’.”