Academy trust faces questions over primary school’s behaviour policies, after mother tells of five-year-old with 30 suspensions in five months

Parents say punishments at Future Academies’ Pimlico Primary disproportionately affecting SEND children, as councillor seeks answers from trust.

A primary school which is alleged to have suspended a five-year-old autistic child 30 times in five months is at the centre of a multi-faceted controversy over its behaviour policies, its treatment of children with special educational needs and disabilities and its interaction with its community.

Pimlico Primary, a free school run by the Future Academies chain, faces claims that SEND children have faced disproportionate punishments, that the use of racist language by pupils has not been tackled effectively and that parents raising concerns have been reported to social services, banned from the premises and barred from talking to their children’s class teachers.

Another parent said that children were “afraid” to go to the school because they could face punishments for not sitting up straight, for fidgeting, for dropping a pen or for having incorrect shoes or socks, though a pupil’s use of racist language had resulted in a similar penalty.

Future did not respond to Education Uncovered when the detail of these concerns were put to it, although this website understands that, in a response to a local councillor, the trust has said it does not recognise the characterisation of the school which has been put forward.