Departing teacher delivers scathing criticisms of academy trust’s policies, in school she describes as “totalitarian”

The "Astrea Ascent" behaviour approach. This chart features on pupils' "Character Cards," which state that students should make good choices because "It is who I am."

A long-serving teacher, working for one of England’s most consistently controversial academy trusts, has offered her resignation with a scathing set of criticisms of the way it operates, lambasting her school under its control as “totalitarian”.

Rachel Andrews* offered the three-page denunciation of Astrea Academy Trust as she prepared to leave Ernulf Academy, a secondary in Cambridgeshire which, unlike three other secondaries within the trust, has previously not attracted much detailed media scrutiny.

Ms Andrews said the school, in the town of St Neots whose only other state secondary is also under the control of Sheffield-based Astrea, took aim at a string of the chain’s policies which have come under criticism at others of its schools, including its behaviour regime and centralised teaching approaches.

A parent herself, Ms Andrews said the operation of the chain’s policy of “army style” line-ups in the playground was “intimidating” and inappropriate for pupils; that its behaviour approach did not work; and that its centralised teaching “booklets” were undermining pupils’ education. She said her daughter’s mental health was suffering and that she felt she had no voice.

I have put these points to Astrea, but have yet to receive a response.  

The background

Education Uncovered has been reporting on controversies surrounding Astrea secondary schools for approaching a year, now. The chain runs seven secondaries and an all-through school in Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire, as well as 17 primaries in Yorkshire.

This website has reported on strict behaviour policies at St Ivo, Longsands and Woodfields academies, and tightly controlled approaches to teaching in the former two schools.

Behaviour policies have included “line-ups” for checks of pupils’ uniform and equipment in the playground, which St Ivo parents said were creating stress for their children around resulting punishments, while Longsands families forced a u-turn in December from that school after it had sought to stop girls wearing socks over their tights, plus strict rules around toileting.

Children at the schools also have to carry “character cards,” in which aspects of good or bad behaviour have to be recorded by staff. The cards feature the trust's "Astrea Ascent" behaviour chart, with a statement that: "We want you to make good choices using the Astrea Ascent and the mantra 'It is who I am.'"

Astrea’s approach to teaching has seen the content of certain lessons set out by the minute for staff, including guided reading time in which pupils have to follow text with a ruler, with teachers having to teach from “booklets” in some subjects. These tightly specify how the lesson is to proceed.

Astrea has defended its behaviour policies in the past as helping to create “a scholarly culture which is warm but strict,” while its centralised approach to supporting teaching saved time for staff.

Ernulf Academy is one of only two secondaries in St Neots, both of which are controlled by Astrea. At the other one, Longsands, nearly a tenth of teachers left before Christmas. At Ernulf, Ms Andrews said it was also struggling with other prospective staff departures this Easter.

At St Ivo, teachers I spoke to last year had warned that the centralised nature of Astrea’s policies, which lean heavily on the work of American educators Barak Rosenshine and Doug Lemov, left them feeling deprofessionalised. At Longsands, a departing teacher told me in December that they were worried about the trust was fostering “blind compliance” in young people with its expectation that their “silence was the default,” and also took issue with children being sanctioned for “tiny things” said to be wrong with their uniform.

The Ernulf resignation

Ms Andrews’ resignation letter, handed in last month, began by saying that she had initially been “extremely excited” by Astrea’s vision for the school, when it first took over, but that the reality had been “the opposite to what was promised”.

She then set out a profound criticism the behaviour policies, including morning line-ups, where Astrea’s policy is to have members of the senior leadership team reading out scripts for the assembled pupils.

She wrote: “I do not agree with the army style discipline that Astrea considers ‘normal’. I do not feel comfortable ‘walking up and down the line’ of students, checking their uniform. I do not feel comfortable to ask students to lift their trouser legs to check for shoes and socks.

“I believe this is invading their personal space and has an intimidating factor and I don’t wish to be perceived by my students as something they should fear.”

Ms Andrews said that, in cases where a child had the incorrect uniform, they were being asked to change in a small room, sometimes in front of other children. Some had had to put on shoes and socks which had already been worn by someone else, the former resulting, she said, sometimes in painful blisters.  

Her letter continued: “I do not agree with humiliating students by forcing them to remove their clothing and change it in conditions that don’t protect their privacy and dignity.”

She added: “I do not agree with character card signatures – this creates a state of policing the students. I don’t want the students to follow my instructions because they fear the consequences but because they respect me enough to do so. I do not feel it’s justified to issue a negative signature for an untucked shirt – something that is easily rectified and often happens without student even realising it. Three negative signatures for those minor infringements result in [a] 45 minute detention.”

This teacher then joined others within Longsands, and St Ivo, who have questioned whether the trust’s strict behaviour policies work on their own terms. All such approaches seemingly are designed to improve pupil conduct, but Ms Andrews said they did not do so.

She said: “Challenging students remain just as challenging (so, clearly, where the policy should make a positive impact, it doesn’t)…and quiet students live in constant fear of someone picking up on something insignificant and receiving a sanction for it. This creates further mental health issues and growing dislike in attending school.”

Then she took aim at Astrea’s teaching approach. She wrote: “I do not agree with the teaching methods forced upon teachers. In my opinion some of the maths booklets are ill-designed and should not be the only resource used to teach mathematical concepts. They’re not time efficient and cause further anxiety to staff, who cannot keep the expected pace. This results in students not exploring certain topics long enough to embed them, and as a result, the education they receive is not of the best quality.”

She added: “I do not agree with the perpetual micromanagement of the staff and lack of development opportunities. This causes staff to feel as if they’re constantly watched, patronised and undervalued. Astrea seems to be forgetting that teachers are educated professionals, who do not need to spend 15 minutes in the morning practising saying ‘good morning’. Unfortunately, practising saying ‘good morning’, ‘good bye’ and ‘walk with pace and purpose’ are the only CPD [continuing professional development] options available to teaching staff at Ernulf Academy.”

The letter continued: “I do not agree with the reading time and how it is executed. I do not agree with forcing students to sit and follow the text with a ruler. It is damaging and simply boring to all confident readers, who feel penalised having to partake in these sessions.”

Ms Andrews also warned that staff had been treated “unethically,” “on many occasions,” having been “targeted” after they had expressed disappointment with management decisions. This had had impacts on people’s health, including her own.

She wrote: “The professional relationship has been fundamentally broken down and I have no other choice but to leave as I don’t have the strength any more. Ernulf is claiming my health and the constant fight with Astrea and the rules imposed on staff are too much.”

Ms Andrews also has a daughter at the school, whose wellbeing she of course also needed to consider, she wrote.

Her letter continued: “As an Ernulf student, [my daughter] experiences first hand what Astrea cultures are doing to students and I see first-hand how damaging to the intelligent, compliant and polite students it is.”

It added that it was not fair that her daughter was being forced into “reading with a ruler every day when her reading age is way above her chronological age, yet there is nothing to challenge her, inspire her nor to explore her talents”.

The letter continued: “It is not fair that she wakes up with a stomach ache every morning and doubts herself continuously, being unsure if there is a reason someone can pick on her – even though there isn’t. She feels her voice has been removed from her and I agree. My husband and I are still awaiting your response to the complaint we filed a few months ago in regards to our daughter.”

She concluded: “Ernulf is not inclusive. Ernulf is not diverse. Ernulf removes the voice from students and staff. Ernulf enforces damaging policies. Ernulf kills the passion for teaching and learning. Ernulf penalises those who ask questions or express opinions. Ernulf is totalitarian.”

As mentioned, Astrea has been approached for comment.

-St Ivo, Longsands and Ernulf were three of only five schools within Cambridgeshire – among 33 secondaries in total – which failed to fill their places for incoming students this year, data available for the 2024 admissions round has revealed.

The statistics, available on the website of Cambridgeshire County Council, show that the three Astrea schools were among five where vacancies remained after places were allocated to families last Friday. Astrea has one other secondary in the county, Cottenham Village College, which did fill its places.

At the time of writing, nearly 900 people had signed a petition calling for the establishment of a secondary school in St Neots which is not run by Astrea.

*Not her real name.