School calls POLICE on 16-year-old pupils who turned up to leaving celebration despite being banned for not meeting ‘high standards’: Parents of girl who was ‘handcuffed and dragged into custody’ tell of fury – as head brands it ‘minor disturbance’
- Police attended Ormiston Horizon Academy in Staffordshire on Wednesday
- The girl’s father said they had ‘no contact through the school’ about the incident
The parents of a 16-year-old GCSE student have been left fuming after she was reportedly handcuffed by police at school after trying to sign leaving pupils’ shirts.
They said they had to go and fetch her from Burslem Police Station after police attended Ormiston Horizon Academy in Chell, Staffordshire on Wednesday.
The police were called after a group of students were refusing to leave the premises.
This led to a standoff with school staff because the pupils wanted their shirts signed and to say goodbye, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.
The girl’s dad said they had ‘no contact through the school’ and only found out about the incident through other children.
The police attended Ormiston Horizon Academy in Chell, Staffordshire on Wednesday. They were called after a group of students were refusing to leave the premises
A picture of Ormiston Horizon Academy. The school said it was aware of a ‘minor disturbance’
He said he went down to the school and nobody knew where she was.
He told Stoke-on-Trent Live: ‘They are more bothered about the school’s name. But they’ve made a mockery of the children, made a circus of them, that’s all they’ve done. It’s all over the internet before they even know it. She was just being a kid, all just having a laugh and a joke. It’s the last day and they were excited.’
He noted that the pupils involved are only 16, adding: ‘My daughter is quite a bit shaken, she’s a bit scared of the police. How are these kids going to look at the police when they want help?’
Some pupils had been barred from the leavers’ celebration either for bad behaviour or poor attendance, according to the publication.
The girl’s mother was at work when the incident unfolded.
She told Stoke-on-Trent Live she found out through being called by another student.
The mother said she then went down to the school on Thursday morning and told them that they have three or four contacts on her form and had not phoned one of them to say what had happened.
She said: ‘If something is in place for the day and the kids are looking forward to it and then they take it away it’s going to upset them. Signing t-shirts is a big thing at school and they’ve missed out. I’ve still got my shirt from when I was at school.’
She added that there was a lack of communication over such a big incident and said it could have been avoided If they had just reached out to the parents first.
A spokesperson from Staffordshire Police said: ‘The group were trying to force entry into the building and were causing disruption within the school grounds’
A spokesperson from Staffordshire Police said: ‘Patrolling officers were made aware at 11.40am on Wednesday of a group of students who were refusing to leave Ormiston Horizon Academy. The group were trying to force entry into the building and were causing disruption within the school grounds.
‘We spoke with the group at the scene and made proportionate attempts to bring the incident to a safe conclusion. As a result, a number of them left the area voluntarily, whilst a small group stayed in the area and continued to cause disruption to officers.
‘We spoke to a 16-year-old girl, from Stoke-on-Trent, about breaching the peace. Her parents collected her from Burslem police station a short time later.
‘One teenage boy was also detained at the scene and spoken to about breaching the peace. After speaking with them both, no further action was taken.’
An Ormiston Academy Trust spokesman said: ‘We are aware of a minor disturbance which took place on the school grounds. It coincided with a celebratory leavers’ assembly for our outgoing year 11s.
‘Throughout this academic year, students have been consistently informed of the high standards of behaviour and conduct we expect as a school and repeatedly told that a continued failure to meet these standards would result in individuals not being invited to be part of the celebrations. As a result of these clear rules, a small number of students were not invited to be part of the leavers’ assembly.
‘This decision was communicated in a timely and sensitive manner and all families were made aware of our academy’s expectations. Despite this, some of these individuals attempted to enter the school and were subsequently asked by the local police to leave the school grounds. While the majority did so, a small number remained and the police therefore took further action. This issue has now been resolved.
‘At Ormiston Horizon Academy, we are wholly committed to fostering high standards of behaviour and have always set clear expectations for our students. Though these events were unfortunate, we would not like them to detract from the brilliant success of our outgoing year 11s.’
