DOZENS of Huddersfield children were punished in the second day of a controversial crackdown.
Colne Valley Specialist Arts College this week began giving detentions to pupils who have forgotten to bring in items including rulers and pencil sharpeners.
More than 200 children fell foul of the new policy on Monday, with some parents complaining to the Examiner after teachers carried out “equipment checks” first thing in the morning.
Last night the school revealed that the get-tough policy was having an effect.
Headteacher Carol Gormley said: “The number of students without all their equipment has vastly reduced from over 200 yesterday to 65 students today out of a total school population of almost 1,500.
“We are pleased that the message is getting through that students must arrive at school fully equipped for the day’s learning and expect this number to fall again each day.”
During the Easter break, the school contacted parents to say that children would receive a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) detention for one hour after school if they forgot to bring the following items:
A planner diary
A pen
A pencil
A sharpener
A rubber
A ruler
A calculator.
Mrs Gormley told the Examiner on Monday that the new policy had been brought in to deal with the “extremely disruptive” problem caused when many children have to borrow stationery.
More than 200 pupils received detentions on Monday – but some furious parents told their children to ignore the punishment and come home as normal.
Joshua Charlesworth, 11, of Slaithwaite was one of 65 pupils given detention yesterday.
His mother Lisa, 32, told the Examiner: “He forgot his pencil sharpener – but his pencil doesn’t even need sharpening. He didn’t have his sharpener on Monday and he didn’t get a detention then.”
Mrs Charlesworth told her son to ignore the punishment.
“I told him there was no way he was staying after school. He can’t get the bus home on his own at 4.30pm or 5pm,” she said.
“I think it’s daft, the school is making a mountain out of a molehill.”
Dan Parry also contacted the Examiner to complain about the new policy.
“Our daughter was one of the many students given an after-school detention on Monday,” he said.
“Her particular crime was not having a pencil sharpener with her!
“We appreciate that standards at the school must be maintained. However, this punishment certainly doesn’t fit the crime and is absolutely ridiculous.
“Neither myself nor my wife were notified about the detention by text or phone, so we were unaware of the reason why she was late home.
“Worryingly, my daughter was also informed that equipment checks – which took 20 minutes – will be conducted on a daily basis for the foreseeable future.
“Can we really afford 100 minutes of teaching time to be lost per week for the sake of a pencil sharpener?”
Amy Henson also got in touch with the Examiner.
She said: “I was angry and shocked when my daughter texted me to say she’d got detention because she didn’t have a pencil sharpener.
“My daughter has never been in trouble and is a Year 11 prefect.
“She has now got a black mark in her planner in the last few months of school.
“How idiotic is all of this?”
