Girl faces suspension from Knole Academy after breaking branch
A PARENT of a Knole Academy student has been left "baffled" after she was told she faces suspension for snapping a tree branch on the school premises.
The mother of Year 8 pupil Ashleigh Chapman, 13, of Armstrong Way, Halstead, told the Chronicle that a teacher called her daughter "an idiot" after the incident.
Kelly Hollman added that the school had gone too far and she defended her daughter's actions.
She said: "Ashleigh got a four-hour Saturday detention but I refused that.
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"So now I am told that my daughter will be excluded.
"She broke a tree branch at break time one day. It was a hot day, she was sitting under a tree with her friends as you do, and then she was swinging on a branch and it broke in her hands.
"My daughter was a bit shocked that she got a detention for this and so she retaliated and that is when a teacher called her an idiot."
She added: "I think punishing a pupil for accidently breaking a tree branch is really over the top.
"She did not intentionally do it, so this baffles me."
For refusing to attend detention at the weekend, Ashleigh is now likely to be suspended from school.
Principal Mary Boyle said: "Ninety-five per cent of our students are extremely well behaved and the policies we have in place are there to protect their safety and environment.
"We do run one-hour and two-hour detentions after school and four-hour Saturday morning detentions, like many independent schools do."
Comments
by bene449
Sunday, June 10 2012, 10:18AM
“So, she broke a branch, retaliated against a teacher, and refused to do detention. I think it is justified that she is being suspended. Well done that a headmistress is, at last, standing up for the rules of the school. I think the mother needs advice on how to bring up a child. If my daughter retaliated against her teacher, the last thing I would be doing is supporting my daughter.”
by TheRanter
Saturday, June 09 2012, 6:23PM
“Oh dear, what a pity, never mind. Clearly more to this than she simply broke a branch and the mother's attitude has set a bad example and made things worse.”