School trust under fire after children banned from going outside at lunchtime

Pupils at the Smestow and Wednesfield academies in Wolverhampton are being forced to stay indoors during the dinner break under new rules brought in by academy chiefs.

The schools were both taken over by the Bloxwich-based Matrix Academy Trust at the start of the year having been previously run by the University of Wolverhampton MAT.

But some of the new rules have not gone down well with parents at Wednesfield, who say being cooped up indoors is bad for their children's mental health.

Other rules they have criticised include youngsters having to ask for permission to use the toilet at break time, and children being named and shamed and made to "face the wall" for being late.

A petition started by Tanya Rathbone titled "Let our kids be free" has so far been signed by nearly 600 people. She said: "Wednesfield Academy have been taken over by Matrix Trust, and the new trust has introduced a new lunch rule.

"Children who enter the dining hall start to queue up, get food and are not allowed to leave to go outside nor can they use the toilet unless they have a pass or for exceptional circumstances."

She adds: "Fresh air helps children to stay focused. Outside games encourages exercise and works great for their mental health, it’s a proven fact.

"Staying in such close proximity with so many children inside increases the risk of children getting more and more illnesses. Can you help me by signing this petition so children can be free just as they were before the Christmas holidays.

"This has really affected my child and many other children I have spoken to."

Dozens of parents and students have commented on the petition. Tab Lloyd described the new rules as "absolute BS", while Emma Moseley said: "My daughter goes to Wednesfield, the kids should be free a lunch time to move around. This isn’t good for the mental health."

Jane Jones said it was "ridiculous" that children were made to face the wall for 20 minutes at lunch time if they were late.

She said: "Are they trying to give these kids stress and anxiety? They go on about mental health and how they try to tackle it and then they come up with these pointless rules, resulting into their health and well-being declining."

She added that children were made to raise their hand if they require the toilet. "This is a school NOT a prison. So stop treating them like they’re criminals," she said.

One pupil wrote: "I literally have my GCSEs in a few months and this new system they have just doesn’t help at all with all the stress that comes because of that fact."

In a statement, Matrix Academy Trust, said: "As a trust, we pride ourselves on our culture of high expectations and providing our young people with an excellent education.

"When a school joins a trust, there are inevitably new systems that are introduced and take time to embed. One of these is the continuous day which is common practice in many secondary schools and is in place in all of our trust schools.

"We very much appreciate and would like to thank the parents who have been supportive of the changes so far. We would also like to take this opportunity to reassure all member of our community that any decisions made are in the best interest of our pupils and based on a proven track record of success.

"We look forward to working with parents to bring about continued improvement at Wednesfield Academy."