Successful kit blitz sparks detention rebellion

Some families said they would boycott the after-school punishment meted out on the first day of term at Colne Valley Specialist Art College, Huddersfield.

The school texted parents during the Easter holidays warning of detention for pupils who each failed to bring a planner diary, pen, pencil, sharpener, rubber, ruler and calculator.

Claire Norman, whose daughter Anna, 16, was given a detention, said: “They went through everyone’s pencil case with a checklist. If anything was missing, they got a detention.

“Anna texted me to say she got an after-school detention because she didn’t have a sharpener.

“There are 22 people in her form group and 20 of them got detention. It’s upsetting because my daughter has never been in trouble and this detention will go on her record.”

More than 200 pupils got detention on Monday and 65 yesterday.

Headteacher Carol Gormley said: “During the last term we were experiencing a huge increase in the number of students routinely arriving at school without the basic items of equipment ... it is extremely disruptive to learning when large volumes of students need to borrow equipment... we educate our students to be responsible for their own organisation and it is unacceptable to arrive at school without basic equipment.

“We hope that parents understand that the cumulative effect of large numbers of students arriving routinely at lessons without basic equipment has a detrimental effect on learning and that they will support us while we address this issue.”

She added that fewer pupils were now forgetting equipment.