Tougher school rules exclude 86 pupils in two days

Haven High Academy in Boston has introduced strict new rules around behaviour, attitude and appearance

A school, where teachers walked out on strike claiming they faced "abuse and violence", has suspended 86 students this week.

Officials at Haven High Academy in Boston told staff and parents they would introduce stricter new behaviour rules following the Bank Holiday weekend.

The excluded students have been forced to miss up to a day of lessons because of the changes.

Voyage Education Trust, which runs the school, has told the BBC a "small minority" of its 1,400 pupils had continued to be "defiant and rude" despite the "no nonsense" approach.

Teaching staff have previously taken strike action after facing abuse and violence from pupils at the school

In April, members of the teachers' union, the NASUWT, took strike action claiming the school management had failed to deal with "serious behavioural issues".

Teachers on the picket line described how they would "dread" going into work and revealed how they would be "pushed, shoved and sworn at" by students.

One said: "I've been spat at and kicked probably half a dozen times in the last year. I spend more time protecting myself and students than teaching."

In 2023, the BBC also reported on students at the school who had planned and filmed fights for social media.

'Firm discipline'

Alun Ebenezer, improvement lead at the Voyage Education Trust, said the new rules formed a "strict approach to behaviour, attitude, uniform and appearance".

He said: "We've had to take a no-nonsense approach because we want the Academy to be happy.

"The vast majority of pupils in the last few days are in immaculate uniform, they're arriving to lessons on time, they're being respectful, well-mannered and they're doing their work.

"Of course pupils are going to misbehave, that goes with the territory. But what we can't put up with is pupils walking away, swearing or being aggressive. That is what we're stamping out".

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