Teachers at super-strict academy told to hand out 25 detentions a week - whatever their pupils’ behaviour
No slumping at desks (image is not of pupils from Ark Alexandra). Image: iStock/Getty Images.
Staff also told to award reward points - but to "sanction" pupils who fail to "track the teacher," or who slump at their desks
Teachers at a controversial academy are being given targets of handing out at least 25 detentions to children each week – regardless of the behaviour of their classes.
Staff at Ark Alexandra Academy, in Hastings, East Sussex, are being monitored on whether or not they hit this benchmark, as well as on the number of reward points they hand out, with pressure being put on those who fall short.
Staff at the secondary have also been instructed to hand out “sanctions” to children who fail to “track” their teacher with their eyes, or if they slouch in their chairs having been told not to, as the school ramps up expectations on pupils and staff, in a drive to improve what teachers there have been told are the “basics” of school behaviour.
The revelations will increase the spotlight on Ark Alexandra, which has faced criticism in recent months from the local Labour MP and the National Education Union over the number of pupils and staff leaving it, but whose academy trust, Ark Schools, says it is thriving.
The school, which operates on two separate sites which it calls “campuses,” was revealed by this website two weeks ago to have seen its year seven to nine year groups from 2023 reduce by a sixth by the time they reached older age groups this academic year, following the introduction of hardline policies on behaviour, equipment and uniform.
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By Warwick Mansell for EDUCATION UNCOVERED
Published: 18 June 2025
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"Further evidence of the corrosive effect of the DfE Behaviour Adviser". More news as we get it 😕
It's hard to know where to start, I can hear the plaintiff cry of the guru, "schools have roooools ...." but setting targets for demerits even if this is to encourage merits is a morally reprehensible action. Apart from the inanity of a demerit for "not tracking" and the prejudice against the neruo-normative I am more and more convinced that these schools are breaking a number of the articles of the UNCRC.