A trust CEO has blamed worsening behaviour in schools on “dreadful parents” who side-stepped the “reality of tough love” when they were growing up.
Gorse Academies Trust boss Sir John Townsley believes their conduct is “the greatest single problem facing” English secondaries, with the issue denting staff morale and the performance of disadvantaged pupils.
Writing in the Telegraph over the weekend, Townsley argued secondaries have reached a “tipping point” over behaviour, after a “a powerful minority of parents” emerged 10 years ago.
‘Dreadful parents’
“The majority of those parents were born in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their arrival coincided with dramatic alterations in home and school discipline,” he said.
“Consequently, these were the first of our children to side-step the reality of tough love. Many are now dreadful parents.”
Despite being a “significant minority”, their impact is “profound”.
Townsley said they defend their children’s “disruptive conduct … at every turn” and attack teachers “who seek to challenge that behaviour” through “formal complaints, Freedom of Information requests and exhausting legal actions”.
This has a “devasting impact on professional morale and well-being”, contributing to “the exodus of great teachers and leaders and a sense of professional hopelessness in schools”.
Impact ‘central’ to disadvantage gap
The special education need and disabilities code is also “mercilessly manipulated in their defence”.
“Most of the families who behave in this manner are not disadvantaged, but the negative impact on disadvantaged pupils is extensive and deep-rooted,” Townsley continued.
“This is because we know that children [who] have the least, whose families’ lives are characterised by privation, achieve disproportionately badly where behaviour standards are poor.”
This impact “is central to the embarrassing reality that despite a budget of close to £80 billion being spent in improving the academic performance of disadvantaged children since 2011, no improvements whatsoever have been forthcoming”.
‘Greatest single problem’
“This painful reality is seldom talked about but is now the greatest single problem facing secondary schools across our country today. System-wide improvement will not emerge until the system accepts and engages with this greatest of new challenges.”
This isn’t the first run-in Gorse has had with parents. In 2016, the Independent revealed Townsley’s solicitors threatened to sue parents who compared him to a dictator in a private Facebook group.
His lawyers told the paper it was “not an attempt to curb freedom of speech”. Instead, it was “about the right of senior staff to do their jobs without fear of harassment”.
In 2022, the West Leeds Dispatch reported over 2,100 people signed a petition calling on Gorse to loosen rules around the use of mobile phones, including a 48-hour confiscation policy.
Meanwhile, the trust was embroiled in a high court battle earlier this year after a legal challenge from families whose pupils had spent up to half a year in “unpleasant and distressing” isolation rooms at one of its schools.
High Court judge Justice Collins Rice called the practice “stigmatising” and “deliberately under-stimulating” – but found the academy had not “crossed the boundaries of what the law or good practice permits”.
Meanwhile, the Farnley Academy in Leeds, dropped from ‘outstanding’ to ‘requires improvement’ in 2019 following criticisms relating to unexplained pupil moves and the over-use of isolation at one of its schools. A trust spokesperson said it “got this wrong and we apologise”.
It is now one of eight of the trust’s schools rated ‘outstanding’, while four are ‘good’ and three are yet to be inspected.
Changes to complaints system
Gorse said the high court verdict sent a “strong message” across the sector “about the right of schools to apply appropriate sanctions when behaviour falls short”, despite it being “regrettable” the claims were brought “at significant public expense”.
It comes after education secretary Bridget Phillipson revealed last week that the upcoming schools white paper will establish “clear expectations of schools” for parent engagement and “improve how school complaints are made and resolved”.
She added the current complaints system “isn’t working as well as it could, either for parents or for schools”.
But the government will “continue to guard against any mistreatment of our hard-working school staff, because there can never be any place for abuse”.
A Schools Week investigation in March revealed how school leaders have been confronted outside their homes, spat at and “offered out” for fights as abuse from parents surges.
The number of Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct referrals leapt by more than 60 per cent to almost 1,700 in 2023-24. This was “largely driven” by an increase in the number coming from members of the public, the agency said.
Figures obtained through Freedom of Information show they accounted for 54 per cent (1,775) of the 3,300 misconduct reports lodged in the last two years.
What a sad deluded man.
Agree. Parents are a real issue. The number of teachers leaving the profession due to rude, unsupportive parents.
Look at number of children not starting school ready to learn per example not toilet trained, unable to communicate their name or go to toilet.
Parents are a massive part of the issue.
Where my friend works as a TA the demographic in the area the school
Ihas a high proportion of disadvantaged children with challenging home lives which has created sometimes violent behaviour from certain children and unsavoury behaviour from parents . But I would also advocate that staff should role model good behaviour as it works both ways . The CEO of our local academy Trust was taken to a tribunal by a member of staff and the behaviour of the CEO led to catastrophic consequences for this member of staff .tribunals are published and it seems that there are double standards between what appears to be acceptable behaviour from senior leaders in a Trust to how they expect the children and parents in their schools to behave. Smacks of double standards!
Hear, Hear! And yet, in Phillipson’s tone-deaf speech widely reported recently, schools are to blame for not handling parental complaints sufficiently well and are clogging up other civil service functions. The simple truth is that schools are increasingly the only agency/ organisation/ company that listens, replies and repeatedly responds to complainants, however irrational and vexatious their complaints.
My son has four, ages 9.5, nearly 8, 5.5, and nearly 3. Consistently surprised at the compliments he gets about their attitudes of enthusiasm with politeness and self-discipline at all the activities they go to. Then he sees how fellow dads relate with and controlled by their demanding, surly, little darlings
Hats off to you for calling this issue out. It is always schools should do this, teachers/staff must do this, learn more on this… And the to-do- list is long. Yet, no one looks at how parents demean teachers and s holl staff in front of their kids; they insult staff, they mock staff and approaches used – then claim that their child is being picked on!
Many such parents need to be shown the damage they are causing.
There is no respect for parents anymore in some schools…they don’t call parents Ms Smith or Mr Mahmood or whatizname… they say “mum”. There is also discrimination…pity…denial and politics going on…staff leaving due to other staff. I’ve met teachers who quit and say it’s shocking what they uncovered during their time on the job…the administrating of these establishments. And all blaming each other…like tots not being toilet trained. When the parents have left them in childcare from 6 months old.
Unfortunately there is alot of problems on both sides of the coin, in society. However when people are respectful and empathethic, outcomes are generally more pleasant.
John (having to step in as interim head at the coal face at Bruntcliffe Academy) finally having to see and experience what the staff on the ground have to face on the daily, perhaps?
Not having to step in, chose to step into the role as principal for the actual principal to go on maternity leave!
As a semi retired supply teacher, my husband has commented on the lack of flexibility in Academy Schools. The youngsters are all required to be the same.
As a member of non teaching staff in a school for 23 years, I was told that my lifelong autism could no longer be tolerated. I was disciplined for not liking the known and proven sexually harrassing behaviour, in front of the children, from one male member of staff. After no problems in 23 years, this resulted in a first and final written warning that I must not be autistic at work for 12 months. If I was a wheelchair user, this is akin to being told not to use my wheelchair at work for 12 months.
I wasn’t permitted to return to work and I was coerced into accepting a payoff.
This CEO is demonstrating the intolerance I was faced with; the intolerance that has no place qhen dealing with humans.
I feel for the staff and parents. Try http://www.parentfriendlyschools.org to better understand how to work with parents and not against them.
To my mind it seems that a consent on acceptable class culture could be accomplished by: in-class CCTV that is readily available for parents to check and use as evidence and for regular reviews. If the majority of parents in a class agree that there is unsuitable disruption from the view- they could vote out the undesirable elements quite rapidly.
I understand that ID may be protected by pixelating faces etc?
This may also improve Teaching delivery standards?
I do agree with some of the CEO’s statement but where is the evidence? Is this based on hear say?
He is earning 250k per annum while his support staff are on 12.65 an hour! Maybe investing in his staff and not taking such a large wage and investing in his schools may promote better behaviour through increasing staff morale and wellbeing? Just a thought !
When someone (on a huge salary who’s daughter is also employed in one of his schools) is pitting teachers against parents the first question I ask is – “what does this individual have to gain from this rhetoric?” Some parents are nightmares, some teachers are bullies – but the majority of both are decent, hardworking and want the best for children and the communities we all live in. The system is failing parents and children as much as it is failing teachers and profiting from the unpaid labour and incredible good will of the profession. Sir John has benefitted – substantially – from the system as it is and probably stands to loose quite a lot if it were overhauled for the common good.