Ark School in Pupil Exodus
WARWICK MANSELL, founder and chief journalist for the investigative website Education Uncovered, writes exclusively for HIP on what he’s uncovered about Hastings’ controversial Ark Alexandra Academy
Teachers at the Ark Alexandra Academy on the Ridge, St Leonards, are being monitored on whether or not they hit a target of at least 25 pupil detentions a week – regardless of behaviour. As the school ramps up expectations on pupils and staff in a drive to improve what teachers have been told are the “basics” of school behaviour, staff at the secondary section of the school have been instructed to hand out “sanctions” to children who fail to “track” their teacher with their eyes, or if they slouch in their chairs, having been told not to.
However, Department for Education figures show that a large percentage of pupils have been leaving the school since the imposition of its hardline behaviour policy, including as many as one in six children from its younger group. The number of pupils in what were year groups seven to nine in 2023 shrank by 16 per cent as of January this year when they were in years nine to 11.
The new figures, which show net reductions in pupil numbers, so departures are offset by any newly-arrived pupils, come with separate data, released through a Freedom of Information response, disclosing how Ark Alexandra lost around one in eight pupils through deregistration during 2023-24 alone.
The changes have been exacerbated by the arrival in September 2023 of new leadership at the school, which has faced intense controversy including criticism from the local MP Helena Dollimore about pupil departures feeding into large numbers of children being home educated in the town. The National Education Union has described the academy as being run under an “authoritarian regime pushing out young people and demoralising staff”. Last September, the school was the subject of widespread media coverage after it launched an outright ban on pupils’ use of mobile phones
A year seven child with ADHD, autism and bowel problems left the school last autumn after his mother said he had been given three hours of detentions in his first 12 days at secondary school. She told Education Uncovered that his rapid slide into anxiety was caused by policies such as minor uniform infringements which, she said, were needlessly strict. Another parent described the school under its current regime as a “hostile environment,” which had left her children with “ longstanding anxiety.” One parent told me her child had faced detentions for not having a clear pencil case, forgetting his blazer and walking too far from a corridor wall. There have also been claims of detentions for children not putting an arm up straight, their pens running out and not sitting up straight.
An open letter, sent from the National Education Union’s Hastings district to the local Labour MP Helena Dollimore in April, criticised the academy calling it “a school in crisis [with a] mass student exodus, an authoritarian regime pushing out young people and demoralised staff, [a] constant turnover of teachers and senior leaders [and] zero community accountability.”
As reported by HIP (Issues 270 and 271) the MP said she was particularly concerned about some local schools failing to address their children’s needs – particularly for children with Special Educational Needs (SEND). “I have particular concerns about this at Ark Alexandra, and was shocked to hear that in the last term alone [autumn term 2024] 123 children were removed from Ark, about 10 per cent.” She had added: “I urge Ark to engage more closely with parents to consult on school policies. It is clear that many families are not confident that Ark can provide the right provision for their child and this needs to change.”
Ark Schools said the Alexandra Academy had improved rapidly over the past 18 months, and that it was “proud of the journey the school is on”. A spokesperson told me Ark Alexandra is “not a school in crisis,” as the NEU’s Hastings branch had said in April, “rather the reverse”. “Since we implemented our new behaviour policy, suspensions have decreased significantly and there have been no permanent exclusions this academic year. We understand that the new policy is not to everyone’s liking – but it has already had a positive impact. Attendance is up, and survey feedback from staff, parents and pupils recognises improvements at the school.”
Read the full stories on the Education Uncovered website: educationuncovered.co.uk/news and search for ‘Ark Alexandra’
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