Why this website was created

The purpose of this website was to understand whether a pattern of harm existed that warranted investigation, not to argue for or against any particular approach to school discipline.

It was set-up in November 2024 by the parent of a child at a Mossbourne school, with the support of a local councillor who had been helping other families. A more detailed, personal story can be found here.

By the time the website was created, around thirty families had already shared strikingly similar experiences. That apparent pattern seemed sufficiently concerning to warrant investigation. For almost a year beforehand, the parent behind this website had been asking the appropriate authorities, in confidence, simply to speak to those families to establish whether further investigation was needed. No families were spoken to, and no meaningful action followed.

The website was therefore created to provide a safe and confidential way for pupils, former pupils, parents, carers and staff to share their experiences, and to establish whether the apparent pattern extended more widely. It was not created to prove a predetermined conclusion, but because there was already sufficient evidence to justify investigating one.

Almost all of the accounts received related to Mossbourne schools. Most were submitted only after national media attention brought wider awareness of the issue — something that should never have been necessary.

The accounts gathered were not complaints about strictness. They frequently described fear, humiliation, isolation, deterioration in mental health, and vulnerable children struggling within the school environment. The purpose of the website was never to argue against clear boundaries, high expectations or appropriate sanctions, all of which the parent behind the website has consistently supported. Rather, it was to understand whether aspects of one school’s culture and practices were causing harm to some children, and whether families had any effective route to have that recognised.

Most contributors described having already tried to raise concerns through the school or other official channels. Others explained that they had not done so because they believed it would be futile or feared adverse consequences for themselves or their children. The accounts themselves were shared in confidence, not to conceal them from investigators, but to protect those coming forward while allowing statutory bodies to examine the pattern that was emerging.

Many of the central concerns raised through this website were subsequently recognised in the independent safeguarding review. The parent behind Educating Hackney did not set out to campaign about education. He was a parent who believed he had identified a pattern of harm that deserved proper investigation.

The wider question raised by this website is not around strictness, or whether schools should have high standards, it is how patterns of harm can be recognised when individual families, acting alone, struggle to have their concerns heard.

The original homepage, as it appeared when the website was launched, is reproduced below.